
Class __L^:_i___ 

Book.___^ 4 

Copyright^ . _ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



^\ 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN 
TEACHERS 



PROVISIONS FOR OLD AGE MADE BY 

WOMEN TEACHERS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

OF MASSACHUSETTS 



A STUDY BY 

THE DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH OF THE 

women's EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION 
ii 

LUCILE EAVES, Ph.D., Director 



STUDIES IN ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF WOMEN 

VOLUME XI 

Boston, Massachusetts 

1921 



Monograph 






Copyright, 1921, by the 

women's educational and industrial union 

Boston, Mass. 



§>" A827723 



SPAETAN PRESS INC., BOSTON 



NOV 12 1921 



*VVQ 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

A STUDY OF PROVISIONS FOR OLD AGE MADE BY 

WOMEN TEACHERS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

OF MASSACHUSETTS 

INTRODUCTION 

This account of the provisions for old-age support made by 
Massachusetts school teachers, and of their conditions of living 
during the period after retirement from active services, is a pre- 
liminary report of a co-operative investigation in which it is hoped 
to enlist groups of students, teachers and college graduates in 
many parts of the country. The undertaking was launched in 
December, 1919, when, on the recommendation of its Research 
Committee, the American Sociological Society authorized a con- 
tinuation of its earlier efforts to promote a more definite focusing 
of the research activities of its members. 1 The need of the results 
of sound, inductive studies as a basis for activities by which the 
civilized world might retrieve some of the losses of the war; the 
difficulties of obtaining the financial support required for social 
research with the assistance of paid field workers; the waste of 
effort involved in the directing of students in innumerable minor 
investigations whose value must be slight because of necessary 
limitations in scope; and the example of the National Research 
Council's plans for the promotion of co-operative research in the 
natural sciences, all supplied potent arguments in support of the 
suggestion that members of the Sociological Society should be 
invited to co-operate in a centrally directed study whose results 
could be based on a mass of facts sufficient to give validity to gen- 
eralizations and to justify the heavy costs of publication. 
Iff/The superior facilities for conducting such an investigation sup- 
plied by the Research Department of the Women's Educational 
and Industrial Union of Boston, prompted the recommendation 
that its director be authorized to supervise, and prepare the final 
report of, the first experimental effort at co-operative social re- 

lArticles telling of the plans for this and similar co-operative investigations were printed in 
the American Journal of Sociology, March, 1920, p. 568, and in the Journal of the Association 
of Collegiate Alumnae, March and April, 1920, p. 14. 



4 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

search. The subject, "How Self-Supporting Women May Provide 
For Their Old Age," was suggested because this topic seemed 
adapted to the group of full-time investigators who would work 
under Miss Eaves' personal supervision and, at the same t im e, 
was of sufficient general interest to appeal to students and women 
college graduates in all sections of the country. Its varied social 
significance is shown by the tentative generalizations of the final 
chapter of the present report. There will be many opportunities 
for lively debates in any group enlisting in the study of such a topic ! 

The American Association of University Women (formerly the 
Association of Collegiate Alumnae) has joined with the Sociologi- 
cal Society in the effort to promote co-operative social research. 
A national research committee has been organized and local com- 
mittees are being established in many branches. Five of these 
committees are now enlisted in this first co-operative study, and 
no doubt other branches will be ready to contribute to the under- 
taking during the coming year. The gathering of facts which can 
be published in reports furnishing a scientific foundation for con- 
structive betterment activities is a fitting service for organiza- 
tions of women graduates of universities, and it seems probable 
that co-operative social research may become an important part of 
the activities of the newly reorganized Association. 

Contributions to the present study of old-age provision by self- 
supporting women may be made in three ways: 

First, individuals who read this preliminary discussion may send 
information about their own or their friends experiences which is like 
that embodied in this report, and so suitable for incorporation in the 
final presentation of the results of the co-operative investigation. 

Second, any group of students or self-supporting women may 
read this report of the experiences of Massachusetts teachers and 
discuss carefully the questions presented in its summary chapter. 
The results of such debates will have much scientific value since 
they will be based on varied experiences in many sections of the 
country. A secretary should summarize the conclusions reached 
and her report should be submitted for endorsement by the group 
before it is forwarded to Boston for use in the final volume. 

Third, groups of university graduates or students may make 
studies of teachers or of other self-supporting women similar in 



OLD-AGE SUPPOET OF WOMEN TEACHEES 5 

scope to those made in the Research Department of the Women's 
Educational and Industrial Union of Boston. Assistance in such 
investigations will be given by Miss Eaves or by sociology pro- 
fessors in neighboring universities. 

Additional reports dealing with older women employed in Boston 
retail stores, with workers in Lynn boot and shoe factories, and with 
the records of insurance companies, are available for the guidance of 
co-operating investigators. The results of their studies may be pub- 
lished in local papers and then forwarded to Boston for use in the 
summary of findings which may thus be made national in scope. 

This preliminary report is an exemplification of the policies 
which we wish to promote in the investigations of wider scope. 
Many persons contributed the facts presented in the tables and 
charts. We avail ourselves of this opportunity to extend hearty 
thanks to the school officials who assisted our field workers by 
supplying records or by arranging opportunities for interviews; 
to tired teachers who remained after school hours in order to an- 
swer questions which seemed somewhat personal; to correspond- 
ents from many parts of the state who wrote delightful letters 
giving us the benefit of their experiences; and to officials in charge 
of the records of the Boston and the Massachusetts Teachers' 
Retirement Funds. The four fellows of the Research Depart- 
ment, working under my direction, visited the retired Boston 
teachers, copied records and prepared the tables and charts. We 
co-operated in the preparation of the outline of topics to be dis- 
cussed in the final report, and then divided the labors of literary 
presentation in the manner suggested by the names attached to 
the different chapters of the book. In order to give greater unity 
to the final report and to bring the material within the limits of 
our resources for publication, some editing and revising of these 
chapters have been necessary. Miss Caroline E. Heermann, my 
research assistant, has verified our tables and copied our manu- 
scripts. If groups of investigators in other parts of the country 
will combine varied talents in promoting similar studies, the final 
outcome of our experiment in co-operative research will be a 
volume of great interest and of general significance. 

Lucile Eaves, Director Research Department, 

Women's Educational and Industrial Union. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 3-5 

By Lucile Eaves 

CHAPTER I— PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND 

LENGTH OF SERVICE OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

OF MASSACHUSETTS 

By Elna Anderson 

Sources of information — Characteristics of the group studied — 

Length of service. 11-23 

CHAPTER II— ECONOMIC STATUS OF MASSACHUSETTS 
WOMEN TEACHERS WHILE IN ACTIVE SERVICE 

By Mabel A. Strong 

Salary schedules by types of schools — Uses made of earnings — 
Amounts spent for board and room — Investments for further 
education and travel — Support of dependents — Expenditures 
for health — Supplementary sources of income — Part-time 
work — Aid from relatives — Inheritances — Savings and their 
investments — Age periods when savings were made — Methods of 
investing savings — Plans for saving — Conclusions. 24-38 

CHAPTER III— RESOURCES OF MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN 
TEACHERS AT THE TIME OF RETIREMENT 

By Alice Channing 

History of teachers' pensions in Massachusetts — Voluntary mutual 
benefit societies — Massachusetts Annuity Guild — First legisla- 
tion establishing the Boston Teachers' Retirement Fund Asso- 
ciation in 1900 — Legislation providing publicly supported pen- 
sion systems — Boston pension acts of 1908 and 1910 — Massachu- 
setts state pension system — Comparison of the Boston and 
State systems — Amounts of pensions received — Disability al- 
lowances of Boston and State teachers — Amount necessary to 
supplement pensions — Savings as a resource for after-retirement 
support — Value of savings measured in annuities — Reasons for 
small amounts saved — Large savings of exceptional women — 
Total income received by Boston teachers from earnings and 
pensions — Sources from which incomes from earnings are supple- 
mented — Conclusions 39-62 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 7 

PAGE 

CHAPTER IV— OLD-AGE LIVING CONDITIONS OF 
RETIRED BOSTON TEACHERS 

By Sakah Louise Proctor 

Probable length of life after retirement — What becomes of the teacher 
after retirement — Living arrangements — Dependents — Extent 
of financial independence — Old or young companions — General 
social interests — Part-time work — General valuation of the old- 
age life of teachers. 63-84 

CHAPTER V— QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION BY CO- 
OPERATING INVESTIGATORS 

By Lucile Eaves 

1. What proportion of the teachers depend on their own exertions 

for means of support after retirement from active services? 

2. Would it be reasonable to maintain that, during the period of 

gainful employment, a self-supporting woman should make 
the portion of her old-age provision which a well-planned life 
would assign to those years? 

3. Is it probable that the unmarried women of the family will ac- 

cept an increasing burden of responsibility for the care of 
its dependents? 

4. How will these altruistic services affect their ability to make 

necessary provision for old-age incapacity? 

5. What forms of old-age insurance are best adapted to the needs 

of self-supporting women? 

6. When should teachers begin setting aside savings for old age? 

7. What forms of investment are best suited to the needs of teach- 

ers? 

8. How may teachers co-operate in making provision for old age? 

9. What avocations are suited to the period after retirement? 
10. What personal and social adjustments have been found to pro- 
mote the happiness of retired teachers or other older pro- 
fessional women? 85-100 

APPENDIX 

Care of Older Women Employes by Boston Retail Stores. Statis- 
tical Tables Cited in the Text. List of Unpublished Sta- 
tistical Tables. Schedules 101-120 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



LIST OF CHARTS 

CHART PAGE 

I. Ages of Retirement of Boston Women Teachers, 1908-1920 . . 15 

II. Ages of Retirement of Massachusetts Women Teachers, 1914-1920 17 

III. Length of Service of Boston Teachers, 1900-1920 23 

IV. Methods of Spending Margin of Income Above Cost of Necessities 

During Definite Age Periods, by Active Massachusetts Women 

Teachers 29 

V. Percentage Distribution of After-Retirement Allowances Received 

by Massachusetts Women Teachers 49 

VI. Relative Standards of Living of Boston Retired Teachers ... 67 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



LIST OF TABLES 

TABLE PAGE 

1. Ages of Retirement of Boston Women Teachers, 1908-1920 ... 14 

2. Ages of Retirement of Massachusetts Women Teachers, 1914-1920 . 16 

3. Condition of Faculties of 115 Retired Boston Teachers .... 18 

4. Length of Service of Massachusetts Women Teachers Prior to Sep- 

tember 1, 1919 19 

5. Length of Service of Retired Boston Women Teachers .... 19 

6. Length of Service of Retired Massachusetts Women Teachers . . 20 

7. Length of Service in Boston Schools of Women Teachers as Indi- 

cated by Changes Noted at Five- Year Intervals in the Names 
Registered in the Boston Educational Directory — Percentages 
(Numbers in Table 22) 22 

8. Amounts of Earnings Remaining to Massachusetts Teachers after 

the Average Cost of Board and Room has been Deducted from the 
Average Salary 27 

9. The Age Periods Covered in Reports of Experiences Furnished by 

190 Active Massachusetts Teachers 28 

10. Average Savings of Active Massachusetts Women Teachers in Given 

Age Periods 33 

1 1 . Forms of Investment Reported by 174 Active Massachusetts Women 

Teachers 35 

12. City of Boston Pensions to which Retired Teachers are Entitled . . 46 

13. Total Pensions from all Sources Received by a Sample Group of Re- 

tired Boston Women Teachers 50 

14. Funds Accumulated from Savings by a Sample Group of Boston Re- 

tired Teachers 53 

15. Annual Incomes of Retired Boston Teachers from Pensions and Sav- 

ings from Salaries 57 

16. Number of Years Intervening Between Retirement and Death of 

Women Teachers Based on Records of the Teachers' Retirement 
Association, 1900-1920 65 

17. Living Arrangements of Retired Boston Women Teachers ... 70 

18. Dependents Cared for by Retired Boston Women Teachers . . 71 

19. Nature of the Relationship of Dependents Cared for by Boston 

Women Teachers and the Kind of Help Rendered 72 

20. Occupations of Retired Boston Women Teachers 80 



10 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

TABLE PAGE 

21. Length of Service of 190 Active Massachusetts Women Teachers 

(Sample Group for whom Schedules were Obtained) .... 109 

22. Length of Service in Boston Schools of Women Teachers as Indicated 

by Changes Noted at Five- Year Intervals in the Names Registered 
in the Boston Educational Directory — Numbers (Percentages in 
Table 7) 109 

23. Age Periods when Active Massachusetts Teachers Reported Ex- 

penditures for Prof essional Advancement 110 

24. Age Periods when 147 Active Massachusetts Teachers Had Depend- 

ents no 

25. Age Periods when 174 Active Massachusetts Women Teachers 

Made Savings HI 

26. Age Periods when 174 Active Women Teachers Made Investments 111 

27. Amount of Support Given to Dependents by 147 Active Massachu- 

setts Women Teachers 112 

28. Methods by which Active Massachusetts Teachers Supplemented 

Their Salaries 112 

29. Savings of Active Massachusetts Women Teachers 113 

30. Annual Allowances Paid from the Massachusetts Teachers' Retire- 

ment Fund, 1914-1920 113 

31. After Retirement Allowances Received by Massachusetts Women 

Teachers 114 

32. Pension Received from City of Boston by a Sample Group of Retired 

Boston Women Teachers 114 

33. Expectation of Life of Women at Different Ages Based on The Ameri- 

can Experience Table Mortality Rates 115 

34. Ages at Death of Retired Massachusetts Women Teachers 1914- 

1920 H5 



PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND LENGTH OF 

SERVICE OF WOMEN TEACHERS OF 

MASSACHUSETTS 

CHAPTER I 

Sources of Information 

The statistical background for this study of the old-age support 
of Massachusetts school teachers was furnished by the following 
public records and reports : The Massachusetts Teachers' Retire- 
ment Association, the Boston Teachers' Retirement Fund Associa- 
tion, the reports of the Boston Teachers' Mutual Benefit Associa- 
tion, the Massachusetts Annuity Guild, the Boston Teachers' 
Relief Fund, the reports of the Boston School Committee, the re- 
port of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Teachers' 
Salaries (1920), the report of the Massachusetts Commission 
on Pensions (1914), and the report of the Joint Special Com- 
mittee on Pensions (1921). 

In order to give life to the study, personal visits were made to 
about 150 Boston active and retired teachers. School officials and 
officers of the various teachers' organizations were consulted to 
learn the history of the efforts to provide for a comfortable old age 
and to obtain details of the various pension plans. Visits to the 
teachers were time-consuming, since only one or two could be inter- 
viewed in each visit made after the close of school, and so it was 
decided to complete the collection of data by correspondence. 
About 1500 letters and questionnaires were sent to Boston and 
Massachusetts women teachers who had served for fifteen years or 
more. One hundred and eighty-five letters were sent to Boston 
retired teachers who could not be reached by personal visits. As 
is commonly the experience of investigators, only a small per cent 
(13) responded. Some of these replies were incomplete but gave 
interesting bits of information which have been used in the general 
discussions. Three hundred and five schedules were sufficiently 
complete for tabulation. This number included 115 retired Boston 
teachers and 190 active teachers of whom 105 were state and 85 
were Boston teachers. 



12 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

Characteristics of the Group Studied 

Undoubtedly New England traditions have been preserved more 
completely in Massachusetts because of the influence of its public 
school teachers. More than 90 per cent of the Massachusetts 
teachers who were studied and 80 per cent of their mothers and 
fathers were natives of New England. The fact that so many 
teachers have continued to live in their home towns with their 
families may be an explanation of their willingness to accept the 
low salaries which have been characteristic of New England 
schools. Of the teachers who were not natives of New England, 
only 2 per cent were foreign born and less than 20 per cent of their 
parents were foreign born. Practically all of these foreign born 
teachers and parents came from England or some of the British 
possessions. There may be subtle variations by nativities in devo- 
tion to family, willingness to make sacrifices for relatives and natu- 
ral ability to save for old age, but the data obtained in the course 
of this investigation are not sufficiently complete for such generali- 
zations. 

Practically all of the group studied were unmarried. Of the 190 
active teachers, 182 were single, 5 married and 3 widowed. Of the 
115 Boston retired teachers, 103 were single, 1 married, 1 divorced 
and 10 widowed. The fact that 93 per cent of the teachers had 
never assumed the responsibilities of married life does not imply 
that these women were free from family cares. It will be shown 
later in the discussion that they had many family responsibilities 
which lessened seriously their ability to accumulate savings for 
use after retirement from active service. 

Massachusetts teachers are a well-trained group of professional 
women. Of those whose records were studied in the course of this 
investigation, practically all were high school graduates. About 
three-fifths of the active teachers and more than two-fifths of the 
retired teachers were graduates of normal schools; one-fifth of the 
active teachers were college or university graduates; and a few had 
advanced degrees or had attended graduate schools. Education 
tends to raise the standard of living, as it develops a taste for such 
things as travel, books and good music. It will be seen readily 
that the living conditions of teachers must be better than those of 
many groups of working women, and that, in order to insure their 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 13 

happiness after retirement, there should be no serious decline from 
the standards to which they have become accustomed. 

A discussion of the health of teachers is limited by the lack of 
general morbidity statistics, making comparisons impossible. 
Some interesting facts were brought out by the investigation, how- 
ever. Teaching is an arduous occupation which demands the best 
that the teacher has to give. On the other hand, one would expect 
teachers to understand the fundamentals of the care of health, 
and they have long vacations for recuperation. Both points of 
view were impressed upon the investigators who visited the Boston 
retired teachers. Some of the teachers were found to be worn out 
by long service; others were vigorous in spite of advanced years. 
An illustration of the latter case was Miss Z, who was eighty-six 
years old when interviewed. Her life had been one of unusual 
activity in her profession and of service to her friends and rela- 
tives, and her health had always been excellent. She advised other 
teachers "to work — and live simply." Of the 115 retired teachers ^ 
studied, 45 reported good health, 43 average and 27 poor. Dis- 
eases of the nervous system were the most frequent of the ailments 
reported. 

No accurate data could be obtained to show the number of 
teachers retiring for disability, because "length of service" is re- 
corded whenever possible to avoid the inconvenience of a medical 
examination which is required of invalidity annuitants under the 
regulations of the Boston Retirement Fund. Some idea of the 
number of those retiring for disability may be gained by noting 
the ages of retirement. It is unnatural that a teacher should wish 
to leave her profession within a few years of the age when she 
could retire with a full pension, unless she is incapacitated in some 
way. The recent report of the Joint Special Committee on Pen- 
sions 1 shows that of the teachers retiring under the provisions of 
the Boston pension system, about one-third retired before the age 
of sixty, one-half before sixty-five and about three-fourths before 
seventy. Table 1. 

ipp. 144-153. 



14 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



TABLE 1. AGES OF RETIREMENT OF BOSTON WOMEN 
TEACHERS. 1 1908-1920 



AGES 


Teachers of Ages Specified 
who Retired in 1908 to 1920 




Number 


Per Cent 


Total, 


242 
84 
37 
58 
63 2 


100.0 


Under 60 years, 

70 to 74 years, 


34.7 
15.3 
24.0 
26.0 



lData taken from Report of the Joint Special Committee on Pensions (1921) , pp. 144-153. 
Sixty teachers who retired under special provision are omitted. Mass. Acts of 1910, Chap. 
617. 



2Forty-nine teachers (20.2 per cent) retired at the age of 70. 



Many of the retired teachers retained full possession of their 
faculties as is shown by Table 3. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OP WOMEN TEACHERS 



15 





o 

2 
i 
















«o 
o 
2 
l 
m 












__f 




uj 

E 
O 
< 

u 












' 




z 
y 

E 
O 

.. > . „. 
















> 

z 
o 

H 

o 












i 




o 

t- 
7 












r 




Id 
E 
Id 
DC 

F I 
ii i . 
















K 

IL. 

O 
/I 
















< 
M u. o 


> 














r ►- 










( 



10 



8 



8 8 



5i x to 



16 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



TABLE 2. AGES OF RETIREMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN 
TEACHERS. 1914-1920 





Number of Teachers of Ages Specified 
Who Retired in 1914-1920 


AGES 


Total 
1914- 
1920 

415 1 


1914 

114 


1915 


1916 


1917 


1918 


1919 


1920 


All ages, 


52 


48 


66 


56 


54 


25 


Under 60 years, 
60, . . 


33 
62 


9 


7 


9 


10 

18 


14 
8 


7 
10 


2 

1 


61, . . 


38 


9 


7 


5 


3 


3 


8 


3 


62, . . 


30 


12 


1 


4 


6 


2 


1 


4 


63, . . 


25 


8 


1 


4 


3 


5 


2 


2 


64, . . 


25 


1 


9 


5 


3 


4 


2 


1 


65, . . 


25 


7 


6 


3 


2 


5 


1 


1 


66, . . 


19 


2 


3 


6 


— 


— 


5 


3 


67,. . 


21 


7 


1 


2 


5 


3 


3 


— 


68, . . 


15 


9 


2 


3 


— 


1 


— 


— 


69, . . 


27 


7 


2 


1 


5 


6 


4 


2 


70, . . 


58 


9 


10 


6 


11 


5 


11 


6 


71-75, . 


28 


25 


3 












Over 75 years, 


9 


9 















lFifty-nine retired teachers who have died are included in this table. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



17 



















z 
< 

— Z 
o 

<n 
h- 

h 
U 
<n 

D 

r 
o 














j 














c 7 


q 














< 

< 

u. 


2 
i 














O 

1- 

z 
u 

-5 

5 

DC 












<1 


r 
y 












] 


h. 
O 

«0 
U 


— < 

W 

— H 

s 

O 

1 














< 














< 


eC - 


1 r ' 













(0 UJ 
< 



E 



S JS «o 



18 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



TABLE 3. CONDITION OF FACULTIES OF 115 RETIRED BOSTON 

TEACHERS 



Total, . 
Hearing, 
Sight, . 
Memory, 



Number of Teachers Reporting 
Faculties as Specified; 



Sound 


Impaired 


67 


48 1 


91 


24 


91 


24 


98 


17 



lOne mentally unbalanced and 1 speech impaired. 

Superior qualities of character of the retired and older active 
teachers impressed the investigators during their visits. The high- 
mindedness of these teachers, devotion to their profession, a beau- 
tiful self-sacrificing spirit toward relatives and friends who needed 
their help, and a sweet, wholesome view of life were met with daily. 
Surely the generation of children who have been privileged to 
come under the influence of these superior women have profited 
by such an experience! Does the present generation of school 
children come under the guidance of as fine a type of teachers as 
has that of the past — is a question which each community should 
consider. The question was raised during the investigation: 
"Were the exceptionally pleasing characteristics of the retired 
teachers the results of superior birth and breeding, or the product 
of the discipline of a long life of unselfish efforts for others?" 

Length of Service 

Contrary to popular assumption, a large number of women 
make teaching their life work. Ten per cent of the Massachusetts 
teachers in service January 1, 1920, had taught thirty or more 
years and nearly 40 per cent had taught fifteen or more years. 
Table 4. About 75 per cent of the retired Boston teachers and 
nearly 80 per cent of the state retired teachers served in the pro- 
fession for more than thirty years. Tables 4 and 5. 

Many teachers give years of service to one community. Nearly 
two-fifths of the Massachusetts teachers have served for ten or 
more years in the city or town where they are now employed. 
About three-fifths of the Boston teachers have served in that city 
for ten or more years. Tables 7 and 22. This condition has 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



19 



TABLE 4. LENGTH OF SERVICE OF MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN 
TEACHERS PRIOR TO SEPTEMBER 1, 1919 1 



YEARS OF EXPERIENCE 



Total, 

None, 

Less than 1 year, . 
1 year and less than 5, 
5 years and less than 10, 
10 years and less than 15, 
15 years and less than 20, 
20 years and less than 25, 
25 years and less than 30, 
30 years and less than 40, 
40 or more years, 



Number of Teachers whose Years of 
Service Were as Specified: 



Number 



17,442 

698 

304 

3,886 

3,497 

2,424 

2,106 

1,563 

1,226 

1,341 

397 



Per Cent 



100. 

4.0 

1.7 

22.3 

20.1 

13.9 

12.1 

9.0 

7.0 

7.7 

2.3 



l Applies to teachers in service January 1, 1920. Data obtained from Report of Commis- 
sion on Teachers' Salaries, pp. 129-130. 



TABLE 5. LENGTH OF SERVICE OF RETIRED BOSTON WOMEN 

TEACHERS 1 



YEARS OF SERVICE 



Total, . . . . 

20 years or less, 

21 to 25 years, 
26 to 30 years, 
31 to 35 years, 
36 to 40 years, 
41 to 45 years, 
46 to 50 years, 

51 years and more, 



Number of Teachers Whose Length 
of Service was as Specified : 



Number 


Per Cent 


302 


100. 


28 


9.3 


24 


7.9 


27 


8.9 


67 


22.2 


41 


13.6 


60 


19.9 


44 


14.6 


11 


3.6 



lData obtained from the Report of the Joint Special Committee on Pensions, pp. 144-153. 



20 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



TABLE 6. LENGTH OF SERVICE OF RETIRED MASSACHUSETTS 
WOMEN TEACHERS 1 



YEARS OF SERVICE 



Total, . . . . 

20 years or less, 

21 to 25 years, 
26 to 30 years, 
31 to 35 years, 
36 to 40 years, 
41 to 45 years, 
46 to 50 years, 

51 years and more, 



Number of Teachers Whose Length 
of Service was as Specified: 



Number 


Per Cent 


358 


100. 


14 


3.9 


26 


7.3 


36 


10.1 


62 


17.3 


67 


18.7 


79 


22.1 


62 


17.3 


12 


3.3 



lData obtained from Report of the Joint Special Commission on Pensions, pp. 71-82. 

changed slightly in the last twenty years. There seems to be a 
tendency for teachers to remain in the Boston schools longer than 
they did formerly. Chart III. 

The pension provisions which went into effect in Boston in 1908 
and in the state outside of Boston in 1914, have undoubtedly en- 
couraged teachers to remain in the profession. Of course the law 
now bars those who might wish to teach after the age of seventy, 
but Boston teachers show a tendency to teach up to the age of 
seventy. Chart I. Since 1914 sixty and seventy years have been 
the most frequent ages of retirement for the state teachers. 
Chart II. 

It is evident that there is a considerable number of women who 
have given the best of their earning years to teaching in the public 
schools. Teachers are retired with the assumption that they are 
no longer fit for service and it is too late for them to find another 
occupation. One teacher writes dramatically: "I can imagine 
nothing more pitiful than the old teacher. She has given body, 
mind and soul to her work. She has been expected to keep her- 
self up to the mark. There have been no exemptions because of 
advancing age. Up to the moment of 69 years, 364 days she has 
been assumed to be absolutely efficient and ready to adopt any 
new work or fad proposed. And then — the clock strikes 70! And 
she is thrown out as useless clay. Tell a child he is useless and you 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 21 

take a long step toward making him so. Tell a woman she is 
worthless — well, is it any wonder our retired teachers age years 
in the first few months when their life interest is denied them, 
their worthlessness thrust upon them, and they can only grope 
pitifully?" 

It has been shown that there is a considerable number of women 
who have made teaching their life work, and who have given years 
of service to one community. These teachers have a right to ex- 
pect a comfortable living during both active and retired periods. 
Support for the after retirement period must come either from 
savings or from some form of pension. The extent to which these 
are available for the women teachers of Massachusetts will be 
shown in the following chapters. 



22 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



CO 

< 

ai go 



H 



w 
o 

H 
H 

2 ^ 

Is 



<1 
> 

go W 

O HH 

w 



<1 

H Pn 
o 

H 
O 






w 

« ° ~ 

to <3 W 

td Ph 

^ o w 

>H CO 

Ph 



o 




0<NOI>COC0001>COeOO<N 


OS 


o 
o 

OS 


OOMCONONM>OOJ^H 


c 


OMHHHl(JNl(3C;| 


S3 




OCCNrtrt 


03 




T-l 


(D 






Pi 






ft 
03 










4J 






OQ 








OOO^M1010HO!N©0'* 


CO S 

■4 & 


o 

OS 


OOCOOOWtONOOOMN 


O^'hciJOOOOMIONH 


O ^ 




© CO <N i-H 


** 01 




T— I 


U -H 






O 03 






•gT3 












§"8 








OCON^OOKJOONONO 


ft* 

OO'tH 


o 


OMOOIOOOOOMO^ION 


OS 


O^N^Ol'OiONMH 


-S-S 


1-1 


O CO M t-H 
t-H 


O oj 






I'Q 










O 03 






**" CI 






T3.2 




oroniOTfioNrtNoan 


03 -+3 

a 3 


>o 


0^©0003NNIOOOO(DN 


OS 


O^-hjOhN^tHhN 


<>>-T3 




O <M <N i-H t-H 


T)W 




i— 1 


Jjj 






•9 « 








*« 






tO Q3 






s ° 




OmNNNNIMtOWON^ 


o 

OS 


OCC*NMNH00WNOM 


OCONffi^aotijMHH 






O C<1 i— < T-H T-l 


«-s 




t-H 


a-n 






a 






o 










°o 






o 

OS 


O^lO^COOi^OCOffl^O 


"5 
s> 

o 


0(NC3NmiOIOHNMtDN 


2 


OOSHiOHNlO'JIfiH 




O <N (M i-H t-H 


(0 

Ph 


o 

OS 


T-H 


|s 






C 










> 






P 








ft 

C 


1 

1 

) 


.02 £ 


& o 

plgrTF-lF-iF-itHF-lS-ifHlH,—. 


PC 






E- 


1 


®CJ«««fl)l»(llll)«)fl 


C 


! 


Om^OOOOOOOO^ 


[2 




Pt 


1 






pH 02 0-* ! + , + , ' i + J -t J T ;> -t J -*>. 
'K'^t-ICDt-HCOt-HCOt-HSOt-H 
MOt-Ht-H(NC<JCOCO-*'<*iiO 







OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHEES 



23 




CHAPTER II 

ECONOMIC STATUS OF MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN 
TEACHERS WHILE IN ACTIVE SERVICE 

INTRODUCTION 

Has the average woman teacher in the Massachusetts schools 
received a sufficient salary during the past 30 years to enable her 
to make adequate provision for her old age? 

It has been shown that the average teacher who makes teaching 
her life work has an income period 1 long enough to provide for 
the years after retirement. Whether or not this provision is 
made depends on three things: 1st, the amount of the salary; 
2nd, the portion of the earnings which are spent in providing for 
the teacher and her dependents; 3rd, the accumulation of savings 
through individual thrift. Let us consider the first of these factors. 

AMOUNTS OF EARNINGS 

Incredibly low initial salaries were received by Massachusetts 
teachers. One woman writes us, "I began teaching at a salary 
of $180 a year." Imagine trying to live and save on a salary 
which paid less than 50 cents a day! We must remember that, 
though a teacher may work only forty weeks, she must live fifty- 
two. Of the teachers entering the profession between 1870 and 
1900, two-thirds began with less than $500. Only two received 
a salary of $900 or more. The largest number, — approximately 
one-third of the whole group, — received between $400 and $500. 

That experience did not bring large additions to these salaries 
is evident from recent reports showing average earnings of Massa- 
chusetts teachers. In 1890 2 the average salary of the woman 
teacher was $526. This rose slowly to $586 in 1900. It was 
$744 in 1910 3 and $837 in 1915. The great increase in teachers' 

lAppendix, Tables 21 and 22. 

2The data for 1890 and 1900 were obtained from our schedules. As these were quite incom- 
plete in regard to salaries, the figures for these two dates can be relied on only to show trends. 

*The data for 1910, 1915, and 1920 were taken from the 1920 Report of the Special Com- 
mission on Teachers' Salaries. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 25 

salaries which was due to the war, the increased cost of living, and 
the loss of many valuable teachers to other more lucrative fields, 
occurred between 1915 and 1920. In the latter year the average 
salary was $1,326.93; a rise of 58.5 per cent over 1915, 78.4 per 
cent over 1910, and 152.3 per cent over 1890. 

Small towns and rural communities have granted larger percent- 
ages of increase than the larger towns and cities. Two reports 
from teachers located in small towns will show the contrast be- 
tween earlier and later salaries. "I have always had a small sal- 
ary, — never $600. Last year we as teachers were given $1000." 
"Until within the last two years, I never received over $700 a year 
and am now getting $1400 a year." Though the percentage in- 
crease in salaries in the rural communities has been greater than 
in the cities, there is still a large discrepancy between the two. 
When the teachers are arranged in four groups 1 in accordance with 
the size of the place where they taught, the difference in the sal- 
aries of Groups I and IV was $490 in 1910 and $728 in 1920. In 
1910, Group IV received 48 per cent of the income of Group I; 
in 1920, 51 per cent. Only 8 per cent of the teachers of Massachu- 
setts on January 1, 1920, were receiving less than $800 a year. 

The minimum legal salary for teachers on January 1, 1920, was 
$550 for towns not exceeding $1,000,000 valuation. This means 
an average weekly salary of $10.58. The legal minimum wage of 
paper box workers was $15.50 a week. However, the average 
salary of all Massachusetts teachers in 1920 was $1,326.93; of 
elementary teachers, $1,237.83; of high school teachers, $1,695.48. 
Thus the average weekly income of Massachusetts teachers varied 
from $23.80 for elementary teachers; $25.52 for all teachers; to 
$32.61 for high school teachers. 

USES MADE OF SALARIES BY MASSACHUSETTS 
TEACHERS 

Changes in Cost of Living 

The bulk of the earnings of the teacher are spent for the necessi- 
ties of life, — food, clothing, and shelter. We have seen how 

lln this discussion, the classification as employed by the Massachusetts Department of 
Education has been used. 
Group I — 38 cities. 

Group II — 75 towns of 5,000 population or over. 

Group III — 116 towns of less than 5,000 population having high schools. 
Group IV- — 225 towns of less than 5,000 population not having high schools. 



26 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

teachers' salaries in Massachusetts have increased 78.4 per cent 
between 1910 and 1920. During these same years, the cost of liv- 
ing has increased 99.7 per cent, 1 so that a teacher receiving the 
average salary of $1,326.93, in 1920, had only the purchasing power 
of a salary of $613.46 in 1910. This was $130.46 less than the aver- 
age salary then paid. The feeling of the teachers in regard to cost 
of living increases is expressed by one of their number as follows : 
"I find my expenses have increased in the past ten years more than 
150 per cent, I have been forced to give up subscriptions to maga- 
zines and papers as a luxury to be denied rather than an equip- 
ment to be constantly in use : that too in the face of the fact that 
the salary has been increased. It has always, however, lagged far 
enough behind the increased cost of living to drain the small sav- 
ings and forbid new ventures." One hundred per cent 2 or higher 
increases of salaries of elementary teachers have been granted only 
in one-third of the Massachusetts towns and cities. These teach- 
ers are as well or better off financially than they were in 1910. 
Ninety per cent of the towns and cities have failed to raise their 
high school teachers' salaries the 100 per cent necessary to meet the 
99.7 per cent increase in living expenses. It is evident, then, that 
the increase in salaries for the past few years has been more appar- 
ent than real, so that opportunities for saving at the present time 
do not differ greatly from those of the period prior to the advances 
in salaries. 

Amounts Spent for Board and Room 

Any effort to estimate the cost of board and room is complicated 
by the fact that nearly three-fifths 3 of the teachers lived at home. 
While it was impossible to get data for exact amounts paid, quota- 
tions from their letters 4 show that some paid full board, some par- 
tial board, while others paid no board but contributed to the ex- 
penses of the home or furnished its luxuries. "They depend on 
what I pay to supply the luxuries." "My salary was barely a liv- 

iReport of Necessities of Life, House Document, 1500. A Special Commission on Teachers' 
Salaries Appointed by the Governor, 1920, pp. 25-27. 

2Report of Special Commission on Teachers' Salaries, 1920, p. 125. 

sin 1920, 57.04 per cent of all the teachers of the state were living at home; 64.1 per cent 
of Group I; 49.1 per cent of Group II; 45.4 per cent of Group III; 38.9 per cent of Group IV. 
1920 Report, Special Commission on Teachers' Salaries. 

<These letters were received in answer to the schedules sent to Massachusetts teachers. 
See page 116. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



27 



ing wage and there were always necessities to be bought for the 
home." Some were helped rather than helping : "At first I saved 
a great deal as I paid no board." "I have always lived at home 
and had more done for me than a self-supporting woman does." 

The average cost of board and room in January, 1920, for teach- 
ers living away from home, ranged from $7.80 a week for Group 
IV 1 to $11.30 a week for Group I, with an average for the State of 
$10.72 a week. 2 Assuming that these sums were paid through- 
out the year, we can compute the yearly average for board and 
room. 3 When this amount is subtracted from the average salary, 
the margin available for all other expenses is obtained. Table 8. 



TABLE 8. AMOUNTS OF EARNINGS REMAINING TO MASSA- 
CHUSETTS TEACHERS AFTER THE AVERAGE COST OF BOARD 
AND ROOM HAS BEEN DEDUCTED FROM AVERAGE SALARY 





Average 

Weekly Cost 

of Board and 

Room for 

January, 19201 

$10.72 

11.30 

10.20 

9.35 

7.80 


Average 

Yearly Cost 

of Board 

and Room 


Average 

Salary for ' 

January 1,1920 


Margin above Cost 
of Room and Board 




Amount 


Per Cent 


State, 
Group I, 
Group II, 
Group III, 
Group IV, 


$557.44 
587.60 
530.40 
486.20 
405.60 


$1,326.93 

1,497.92 

1,103.33 

913.29 

768.69 


$769.49 
910.32 
572.93 
427.09 
363.09 


57.8 

60.8 
51.9 
46.8 

47.2 



iSpecial Commission on Teachers' Salaries, pp. 126 and 26. 

This margin must supply the cost of clothing, dental and medi- 
cal care, a reasonable amount for recreation, and an allowance for 
the expenses which teachers are called upon to meet because of 
their positions. This latter item includes professional magazines, 
tickets bought to help pupils, clothes and medical aid for poor 
pupils, and traveling expenses for week-end visits. One teacher 
who has kept a very careful clothes budget, reports, "My clothes 
allowance has risen from $50 to $200 in the 29 years I have been 
teaching." In the study of teachers' budgets made by a committee 
of teachers from all the state, $250 is allowed for clothing; while 
the teachers of Brookline claim that $300 is necessary. 

iSee p. 25, foot-note 1. 

2Report of Special Commission on Teachers' Salaries, 1920; p. 126. 

3This average will seem very low to many. In a study of Brookline teachers, the average 
amount for board and room reported by the teachers was $854.71. Another estimate by 
teachers who came from various parts of the state allowed $780 for these items. 



28 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



Composition of Group Studied 

The discussion of the spending of the remaining margin is based 
on reports from a group of 190 active teachers, 85 from Boston, and 
105 from other parts of the state. Schedules and letters were sent 
to teachers with more than 15 years of experience, as they would 
be more interested in after-retirement plans and their experiences 
would be of more value in this study. Of the 190 teachers who 
sent in schedules sufficiently complete for use, 5 per cent were 
under 40 years of age, and 70 per cent were between 40 and 60 : 
thus three-fourths were below the lowest age for retirement with 
a pension. 1 Table 9. 



TABLE 9. THE AGE PERIODS COVERED IN REPORTS OP 
EXPERIENCES FURNISHED BY 190 ACTIVE MASSACHUSETTS 

TEACHERS 



AGE PERIODS 


Number of Teachers of 

Specified Ages who 
Reported Experiences 


Number of Teachers Reporting 

Their Experiences in Specified 

Age Periods* 


Total Reporting, 


190 


190 


Under 20 years, 


— 


188 


20-29, . . . 


1 


188 


30-39, . . . 


9 


187 


40-49, . . . 


61 


178 


50-59, . . . 


68 


117 


60-70, . . . 


49 


49 


Age not stated, . 


2 


— 



aSince the older teachers reported for each preoeding 10-year period, this series is cumulative 
Thus the 49 teachers who were in the age group, 60-70, reported their experiences for each 
preceding decade and are added to the number of teachers whose ages classed them in the 
other groups. 

Investments in Further Education and Travel 

Among these teachers a favorite way of using the surplus above 
the cost of living has been investments for improving or main- 
taining their professional standing. Three-fourths of the teachers 
reported expenditures for travel or further education. Of this 
number, three-fifths had invested in both. Professional gain fre- 
quently resulted from such investment; one teacher worked her 
way up from a teacher of the third grade to the head of a depart- 
ment in a large city high school: "A great deal of my savings were 
spent in broadening my education by study and travel. Had I 

lAppendix, Tables 23-26. 



OLD-AGE SUPPOET OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



29 



chart is. methods of spending margin of income above 

COST OF NECESSITIES DURING DEFINITE AGE PERIODS BY 
ACTIVE MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN TEACHERS. 



























. 


•~ — *. 






























/ 


\ 






80 
70 








/ 


\ 








/ 




\ 








I 








\ 












/ f X 




• 












// ~ 




» t 












// 


\> \ 


i 




60 








/ / 


\ s . \ 












t / 

i / 


\\ \ 


\ 












if 


\\ 


\ 










1 




\\ 


\ * 










1, 




\\ 


\ 




50 






1/ 




\\ 










li 




















\\ 


\ \ 














\\ 


\ » 






; 








Y 






AO 


;j 










^ \ "• 




,'/ 










\ \ \ 




















50 


>/ 












\ 












\ > 
















■\ 


V \ 




»/ l 










Vv 


\ ^ 


20 


§ /i 












\ \ 


V 










\ 


\ V 




II 

II 












A. \ 




II 












\\ 




II 












\\ 


10 


II 












\\ 


l'l 












\ [ 




1 

li 















IO 2.0 30 <*0 50 60 70 

TRAVEL. ... , , ,, , , FDur.ATlQM CARE OF DEPENDENTS 

SAVING 

TABLES £3- £6 GIVE DATA ON WHICH THIS CHART IS BASED. 



30 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

not spent this, it would have helped considerably later, but I 
felt it a necessary investment." Traveling and more education 
have made possible financially better positions, and have also pre- 
vented teachers from getting into stereotyped ways of thinking. 
One teacher exclaims, "Don't scrimp yourself of travel and change 
to the extent of dwarfing your mind, narrowing your interests, 
drying up your sympathies." 

About two-fifths of the teachers invested in travel and educa- 
tion between the ages of 30-39. The second largest number of 
investors was found in the 20-29 age period in education, and in the 
40-49 age period in travel. After 50, a noticeable decline occurred 
in the number using either method of improvement. Table 23, 
Chart IV. 

Only one-fourth of the teachers could not or did not invest in 
travel and further study. The feelings of this group are thus ex- 
pressed by some of their number: "I cannot afford this much de- 
sired luxury." "I never had the courage to drop my work and ven- 
ture to speculate on myself by borrowing funds — my meagre salary 
was very precious not to me alone but to others." 

Support of Dependents 

The care of dependents falls heaviest on the teacher during 
those years when she should be saving money for her after-retire- 
ment support. Table 24, Chart IV. Between 40 and 49 1 over 
half of the teachers helped others. Almost as many aided their 
families between 30 and 39, and 50-59. Below 30 and over 60, 
the burden was lighter. 

Four-fifths of the teachers studied spent part of their earnings 
in the care of dependents. Table 24 and 27. Eight-ninths of 
those giving total support and seven-tenths of those giving partial 
support helped either one or two persons. Two-thirds of the 
totally supported and one-half of the partially supported depend- 
ents were women. 1 Among the dependent women, mothers, 
aunts, and sisters were mentioned most frequently. On many 
schedules we found, "I took care of my widowed mother." Re- 
ports of full support given to fathers or brothers usually stated 
that they were invalids. The large amount of partial support 

iTables 24, 27. Tables 18 and 19 report the care of dependents by Boston retired teachers. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHEES 31 

given the men took the form of assistance in the education of 
younger brothers or of nephews: "I helped my three brothers 
through college." "I am helping a beloved nephew through col- 
lege." The forms of support most commonly reported were, the 
making of homes, monetary assistance and education. 

A great part of the support was given to those of the previous 
generation from whom no return can be expected when the teacher 
is old. One of the teachers who lives with an old aunt almost 
eighty, writes us: "The situation has been this frankly: As the 
generation of Aunt X grew old and unable to work, they came 
home — with or without funds — and settled down to await the end. 
There are two with us now, both over 80." If the teacher is handi- 
capped by caring for others, we must not expect her to provide 
adequately for her own old age. "If one is a teacher and has de- 
pendents, she will have no use for methods of saving and investing 
because there won't be anything to save." 

Some return in old age might be expected when help is given 
to younger brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. Two views 
of the probability of this return are given. "My losses have re- 
sulted largely from trying to help individuals to secure an educa- 
tion or some other advantage." "I am counting * * * on suffi- 
cient gratitude from the young people whom I have helped out 
to give me a home if I want one occasionally during the year, and 
I am happy to say that I have no doubt of their generous return." 

In caring for others, the teacher not only loses but gains. The 
monetary loss was offset in one-fourth of the cases by an inheritance 
of money or of a home. The greatest gain, however, was in broad- 
ened interests and quickened sympathies. This is well expressed 
by one teacher: "I do not consider the situation of those who 
have relatives to whom they have to give help, nearly as deserving 
of sympathy as that of those who have no relatives at all. I do 
not see why the woman teacher should not expect to be of some 
use to her family just as much as a man to his. * * * I have 
found in the few cases among my acquaintances, where they were 
contributing to the support of the coming generation, that their 
interest in life was so much keener and their feeling that it was all 
worth while so much stronger, that if it had not been for the pity- 
ing attitude of friends, one would have thought they were earning 



32 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

an additional salary, instead of having to spend what they did 
earn on a larger number of people." 

Expenditures for Health 

No definite data can be given for the amounts spent for doctors 
and hospital bills, as the schedule did not call for the information. 
Fifteen teachers voluntarily mentioned that sickness or operations 
had drained their savings. Doubtless there were others who did 
not mention expenditures for health. "I have been handicapped 
by poor health and a long hospital experience which made quite an 
inroad in my small savings." Teachers who had good health recog- 
nized it fully as the blessing it is : "I have had marvelous health. 
For 19 years I never lost a dollar of pay." "I have had and am in 
perfect health." 

Supplementary Sources of Income 

Part-time work was undertaken by one-sixth of the 190 teachers 
in order to supplement their salaries which were inadequate to 
meet the cost of living and the care of dependents. This part- 
time work not only filled a financial need — bringing in from $50 to 
$700 a year — but provides an avocation 1 for the teacher which may 
prove to be a source of income, interest, and pleasure after retire- 
ment. 

Another method by which the salaries were supplemented was 
by aid of relatives. One-sixteenth of the teachers were furnished 
with homes, and one-tenth spent their vacations at home without 
cost. Inheritances were another form of aid, from relatives. 



SAVINGS AND THEIR INVESTMENT 

Effect of Inheritance on Savings 

Does the knowledge that she will inherit money tend to make 
the teacher neglect saving or does it rather increase her savings? 
Does the fact that the teacher inherits money show that she came 
of thrifty stock? An incident in answer to the first question is 
the following: "I never saved as I expected to inherit from a 
rich uncle. He died and left the money to someone else." Over 

lAppendix, Table 28. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



33 



one-fourth, 26.8 per cent, of the group had inheritances. Of these, 
one-fourth received $2,000 or less. In only one case did the inheri- 
tance exceed $20,000. One-half of those who received inheritances 
saved $4,000 or over. 1 This sum will purchase an annuity to begin 
at the age of 65 of about $383, which, added to the average pen- 
sion of $400-$500 for the state and $500-$600 for Boston, would 
make a minimum wage income. 

Let us compare these savings with those of the remaining three- 
fourths of the teachers who had no inheritances and so were in need 
of greater savings. Three-fifths of this group saved less than 
$4,000. The average amount saved during various age periods is 
given in Table 10 2 . Those with inheritances saved an average of 



TABLE 10. AVERAGE SAVINGS OF ACTIVE MASSACHUSETTS 
WOMEN TEACHERS IN GIVEN AGE PERIODS 



AGE PERIODS 


Teachers with Inheritance 


Teachers without Inheritance 


Under 20 years, 


$250. 


$250. 


20-29, . . . 


625. 


485. 


30-39, . . . 


825. 


795. 


40-49, . . . 


1,333. 


1,092. 


50-59, . . . 


958. 


1,078. 


60-70, . . • . 





714. 



$4,734 as compared with $3,015 for those without inheritances. 
Thus it might seem that teachers with inheritances were as a 
whole of a thriftier stock, as three-fourths of both groups cared for 
dependents, but this statement should be qualified by the fact 
that it is possible that the teacher who inherits may have less 
exacting financial demands in the care of her dependents. It is 
true also that the additional income from the inheritance may 
have made possible a larger margin for savings. 



Age Periods When Savings Were Made 

"Every woman can save something if she gives up enough." 
' 'Saving means continual sacrifice." "Strictest economy which I 
have always detested seems the only way to save for a woman who 
has only a salary to depend upon." At what ages are women most 

lThis saving is from the earnings. , 
2Appendix, Table 29. 



34 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

willing to make these sacrifices or to apply the hard discipline of 
economy? Too frequently it requires a realization that old age is 
approaching in order to compel the teachers to make provision 
for it. Four-fifths of the 174 teachers who saved gave the age pe- 
riods when these savings were made. The largest percentage of 
teachers saved between the ages of 40 and 49, the same age period 
when the care of dependents was most burdensome. Table 29, 
Chart IV. 

Younger teachers do not think of providing for their old age. 
It either seems too far off or they are planning to leave the profes- 
sion to go into other lines of work or to get married. There is a 
good foundation for this planning, for in 1919, 1 999 of the 1,772 
teachers leaving Massachusetts schools, or about 5 per cent of the 
total teaching force, left for the above two reasons. Teachers who 
do remain in the profession wish for an earlier realization of the 
necessity of saving. "I wish that the subject of saving and invest- 
ing could be made a vital appeal to young working women. While 
responsibilities are light, health good, earning capacity increasing, 
saving should begin and the right sense of values be developed, 
that superficial wants should, be looked at fairly, and spending 
for the most part be for more permanent enjoyments." It would 
seem that the usual way for the teachers is to care for those de- 
pendent on them, improve themselves by education and travel, 
advance to their maximum and then provide for their old age. 

Only 16 of the 190 teachers studied had made no savings. By 
saving is meant all money put aside for old-age provision exclusive 
of any amount saved through pension systems. It is interesting 
to note that of the 105 state teachers only 54 or a little over half 
said that they were saving the necessary 5 per cent of their salaries 
in the Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement Association. Four 
definitely said that they did not belong to the Association and 47 
or almost half did not mention it. Of the 85 Boston teachers, 41 
were contributing the $18 a year to the Boston Teachers' Retire- 
ment Fund Association, 4 did not belong, and 40 gave no informa- 
tion. All teachers entering the Boston schools since 1900 must be- 
long to the Boston Teachers' Retirement Fund Association. All 
teachers entering state schools exclusive of Boston, since 1914, 

1 1920 Report of Special Commission on Teachers' Salaries, p. 12. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OP WOMEN TEACHERS 



35 



must join the Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement Association. 
The teachers who were in the service prior to these dates have the 
opportunity of joining these associations. 1 

Forms of Investments of Savings 

All the savings of these teachers, exclusive of the pension sav- 
ings, were placed in six forms of investment: Savings banks; 
insurance, including life, endowment, and annuities; liberty bonds; 
co-operative banks; stocks and bonds; 2 real estate, including house 
and lot, and mortgages. Table 11. 

One-fourth of all the investments were made in the savings 
banks. "The form of investment best for teachers is the Savings 
Bank. Their salaries are too meagre to take the risk of failure 
outside the banks. They must first seek safety ; after that, interest. 



TABLE 11. FORMS OF INVESTMENT REPORTED BY 174 ACTIVE 
MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN TEACHERS 



FORMS OF INVESTMENT 



Total, . . . 

Savings Bank, 
Insurance, . 
Liberty Bonds, 
Co-operative Bank, 
Stocks and Bonds, 
Real Estate, 
Unknown, . . 



Investments Reported: 


Number 


Per Cent 


374 


100.0 


97 


25.9 


63 


16.8 


61 


16.3 


59 


15.8 


47 


12.6 


36 


9.6 


11 


2.9 



Where else will you find that except in banks." 

Insurance, co-operative banks and liberty bonds were forms of 
investment which came next in popularity, each absorbing about 
one-sixth of the number made by teachers. Endowment policies 
were the favorite form of insurance. The advantages of the an- 
nuity were appreciated by many. "I have taken out an annuity 
bond which will pay 10 per cent on my investment from the time 
I am 65. I consider that my best investment." 

lFor a discussion of these two pension systems, see report by Alice Channing on the Resources 
of the Public School Teacher at the Time of Retirement Chapter III. 

^Stocks of Public Utility Corporations were chosen most frequently for these investments. 



36 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

The use of co-operative banks as means of saving money seems 
to be increasing in popularity among the teachers as nearly all have 
a good word for it: "For years I have put so many dollars every 
month into a co-operative bank and it has seemed at times like a 
gold mine." "I think co-operative bank shares, which are safe, pay 
a high rate of interest and demand monthly payments, are to be 
recommended." "They gave me my first $1,000." 

No doubt the Liberty Bonds were purchased from motives of 
patriotism as well as because they were safe investments. Thus we 
have three-fourths of all investments in such conservative forms as 
savings and co-operative banks, insurance and liberty bonds. 

Half of the teachers intrusted their savings in only one or two 
forms of investment, while only 2.6 per cent tried as many as five 
forms. Caution in investing savings was characteristic of the 
teachers. The following quotations are indicative of this, — "Those 
who have little can run less risks in the search for higher per cents 
than those who have more." "The Savings or Co-operative Banks 
are the safest places for a teacher to put her money. She cannot 
afford the nervous strain of uncertain or large dividends." "Never 
make any investments without the advice of 2 or 3 highest 
authorities on the subject." 

Constructive Plans for Saving 

The teacher's problem for saving is a complicated one. It can 
be carried to extremes as some realize: "Balance carefully the 
desirability of saving. There is a real danger of professional 
women, especially teachers, saving so hard that they stunt them- 
selves." It may be entirely neglected as others realize: "To 
speak frankly, I have found my co-laborers as a class lacking in 
thrift. Many spent regularly the entire monthly salary before it 
was due." Or a reasonable view may be taken: "I certainly wish 
to say that people do not realize early enough the needs of the 
future. On the other hand perpetual skimping and saving is 
narrowing and tends to embitter one toward life. To strike the 
happy medium is certainly the difficult and desirable thing to at 
least attempt." As another teacher expresses it, "Somewhere be- 
tween stinginess and unwise generosity, between miserliness and 
wastefulness is — I suppose — a road of wise saving. How a teacher 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 37 

can save sufficient sums to secure her old age — and we live to old 
ages — I have not yet found out." 

Three different plans of saving, successfully used by several 
teachers, have been selected as examples : 

The first of the three plans, as tried by various teachers is as fol- 
lows. Invest in something that demands regular payments, as co- 
operative banks or insurance. Save regularly and systematically. 
This plan, a favorite one, is thus expressed: "It is advantageous 
to invest in co-operative stock or in such a regular plan that she 
(the teacher) will estimate it as part of her living expense rather 
than what may be left at any period." "Make it compulsory to 
be met as a debt." "Always live on less than your salary." 

The second plan is similar but involves the use of a budget 
planned for individual needs, and allowing for saving. "Make a 
budget for next month when the salary is received and put away 
all left." "Get a budget suited to your salary and stick to it! 
You can't manage an income without paper and pencil." 

The third plan is to build a house with the help of a loan society 
and save by paying the debt thus contracted. The pressure of a 
debt seems to be stronger than the urge to save: "My salary was 
very small. I could not save but I could pay bills if I had promised 
to do so. I had a two flat house built for me and so arranged that 
1 could rent rooms to teachers and live myself on the second floor. 
I had saved the enormous (?) sum of $200 and with $200 more 
left me, I began to pay for the house which then cost me $4,100." 

CONCLUSION 
We have seen that the average salary of the woman teacher in 
Massachusetts has increased from $525.92 in 1890, to $1,326.93 
in 1920. Her average board and room in 1920 has been $557.44, 
leaving her a margin of $769.49 from which must be deducted 
amounts for clothing and other necessary expenditures. Various 
ways of using the margin that is left have been studied. Two- 
sevenths of the teachers have entirely supported some member of 
their family, two-thirds have partially supported others. Travel 
and education have used more of the margin; nearly three-fifths 
of the teachers availing themselves of both. These expenditures 
have helped in keeping the outlook of the teacher keen and 



38 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

sane. The care of others has helped to keep her "human." For 
some teachers, ill health has used up all available savings. 

One-sixth of the teachers have been assisted by relatives either 
through having a home offered them for the whole year or for vaca- 
tions. One-fourth have received inheritances. 

Due to family cares and inadequate salaries, many teachers 
have had to supplement their salaries by part-time earnings. 
These occupations have disclosed a number of interesting avoca- 
tions which should prove helpful to after-retirement plans. 



CHAPTER III 

RESOURCES OF MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN TEACHERS 
AT THE TIME OF RETIREMENT 

History of Teachers' Pensions in Massachusetts 

Public school teachers in the state of Massachusetts have as a 
minimum resource at the time of retirement the pensions estab- 
lished by law. These pensions, paid from the public funds of city 
or state, were provided for teachers in Boston and some other 
cities in 1908, and for all teachers in the state in 1914. The Boston 
teachers augment the city pension by a small annuity from the 
Retirement Fund provided by a teachers' association founded in 
1900. This system of pensions has been a gradual growth which 
began with the founding of mutual aid and insurance societies in 
1890. 

Voluntary Mutual Benefit Societies 

The movement of the teachers for mutual insurance was a con- 
sequence of their concern over the lack of an organized old-age 
provision. Dependent on their own initiative, with salaries barely 
sufficient for daily existence, the teachers of the '80s and '90s 
found the problem of meeting the future doubly difficult. Some 
teachers, who retired and had no families on whom to rely, were in 
desperate straits. As one of the older teachers remarked, "The hat 
was continually passed among the active teachers for subscrip- 
tions." With the needs of the future before them, undoubtedly 
influenced by the social insurance plans which were being tried out 
in Europe and by the fraternal orders springing up in America, 
the teachers got together and founded mutual benefit societies. 

Boston Mutual Benefit Society 

Two of these, the Boston Teachers' Mutual Benefit Society and 
the Massachusetts Guild, still exist. Started with enthusiasm 
but in ignorance of actuarial principles, they ended in compara- 
tive failure. The Boston Mutual Benefit Society, dating back to 



40 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

1889, planned to divide its income equally among retired members 
and expected that the annuities would amount to $300 a year. 
The money for annuities was to be derived from assessments of 
1 per cent on salaries, 1 which would have resulted in per capita 
payments of $8 to $10 a year. Funds obtained in this way were 
to be supplemented by proceeds from entertainments and by be- 
quests from interested individuals. During the first five years 
$75,000 were raised by two bazaars, and there were also some 
bequests. Since membership was not compulsory, younger 
teachers, who were not worried about their future, did not join; 
as a result older teachers were in the majority. Some who had 
paid in very little to the fund retired and received allowances 
of $300 or even, in four cases, of $600 a year. There was a decrease 
in new members and the annuitants increased at a more rapid 
rate than the fund. It became evident that the assessments were 
too small although membership for fifteen years before retire- 
ment was soon required. The maximum allowance, at the present 
time, is $40 a year, or 4 per cent of the former salary. There has 
been one new member in six years and the 270 annuitants out- 
number the 240 active members. If the original funds, $140,000 
had not been well invested, the society would now be, as its 
treasurer remarked, "defunct." Ninety-five of the 115 teachers 
visited in the course of the investigation receive benefits from 
this Society amounting to from $37 to $40 a year. 

Massachusetts Annuity Guild 

The other surviving society, the Massachusetts Annuity Guild, 
founded in 1893 for teachers outside Boston, has much the same 
history. The assessments of 1 V 2 per cent, $7.50 to $15 a year, were 
not sufficient; membership consisting of older rather than of 
younger teachers was not compulsory; and the number of an- 
nuitants increased more rapidly than the income. The annuities 
have fallen from $200 to $50 2 a year. The active membership 

lAt present the assessment is 1 per cent on salaries of $1,000. For larger salaries the assess- 
ment for each additional $100 is $0.48 or H of 1 per cent. The present assessment on an 
elementary teacher's salary of $1,760 is $14 a year. 

2The annuity to which teachers who have paid $15 for 30 years are entitled is nominally 
$62.80. Practically 20 per cent of the annuity is deducted because none of the teachers has 
paid the 30 years of assessments, and 1H Per cent is charged for membership dues. This 
resulted in August, 1920, in the following half-yearly payments: 254 who paid $15 yearly 
received $25.75; 36 who paid $11 yearly received $16.40; and 66 who paid $7.50 yearly, $12.87. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 41 

has decreased from a maximum of 1400 to about 1000, and the 
256 annuitants draw their allowances from the permanent in- 
vested fund of $250,000. There is some discussion as to whether 
it might be wise to wind up the affairs of the Guild and transfer 
the responsibility of administering the fund to a reliable insurance 
company. If this is done, the annuities will amount to little over 
$35 a year, but the last surviving members will be assured that at 
retirement they also will receive this $35 annuity. 

First Legislation Establishing the Boston Teachers' Retirement Fund 
Association in 1900 
The experience of these two voluntary benefit societies showed 
the teachers that the solution of the problem of old-age support had 
not been reached. They felt that some compulsory measure 
would have to be adopted. As a result of their efforts, the legisla- 
ture in 1900 passed the first law for the benefit of retired teachers, 
and established the Boston Teachers' Retirement Fund Associa- 
tion. 1 The chief difference between this society and the mutual 
societies was that membership for all teachers entering the service 
after the passage of the Act, was compulsory. Unfortunately 
actuarial principle were not completely understood and the prom- 
ised annuities were out of proportion to the assessments. The 
fund was contributory and received no aid from the city treasury. 
All members paid a flat rate of $18 a year. Those who left the 
service received a refund of one-half of their contributions but 
the contributions of those who died reverted to the fund. After 
teaching thirty years, ten of which must have been in Boston, 
and after making payments of $540, the teacher was eligible to 
retire on an annuity. The amount of this annuity was left to the 
discretion of the trustees. Prior to 1914 the amounts were as fol- 
lows: 1901, $150 a year; 1902 to 1913, $168; 1904 to 1914, $180. 
In 1914 the state actuary, 2 at the request of the trustees, investi- 
gated the condition of the fund. He recommended that the an- 
nuity be reduced to $81 a year. The trustees cut the amount to 
$120 and this is still being paid to the 294 annuitants. Nine only 
of the 115 teachers visited did not join the Retirement Fund Asso- 
ciation and do not receive this annuity. 

^Massachusetts Acts of 1900, Chap. 237. 

2Report to the Board of Trustees of Boston Retirement Fund by Wm. Montgomery, Sept. 
16, 1914. 



42 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

The generous provision enabling teachers who become disabled 
after two or more years of service to retire on an annuity is one of 
the reasons that the contributions of $18 a year are not sufficient 
to pay the $180 a year. Although the funds are increased by the 
contributions of teachers who resign or die, this extra money does 
not suffice. Some teachers who retire on account of ill health may 
live a long time and yet be entitled to an annuity every year of 
their lives. Since 1900, 38 teachers have retired for invalidity be- 
fore they had served thirty years, and 64 others retired after serv- 
ing this period but before they had reached the age of sixty. 
Hence, although the disability provision is a valuable insurance 
for the teacher, it is a drain on the resources of the Fund. 

Legislation Providing Publicly Supported Pension Systems 

The annuities granted by the Retirement Fund Association 
after 1900, to disabled and superannuated teachers, were, after 
all, only small contributions toward their support. Teachers out- 
side Boston were not eligible even for this, but were still dependent 
on the decreasing annuities from the Massachusetts Guild. The 
feeling grew among both teachers and the public that more ade- 
quate provision for old age should be made, not from teachers' 
contributions but from public funds. This feeling was increased 
by the fact that at this time proposals were being made that other 
state employees should be pensioned. The school authorities 
urged that similar provisions should be made for teachers in order 
to relieve the schools of old and incapacitated teachers who could 
not retire without losing their only means of livelihood. In 1908 1 
the legislature finally passed an Act providing that cities and towns 
might, if they so desired, retire their teachers on pensions from 
the municipal funds. Twelve cities and towns, including Brook- 
line and Cambridge, accepted this law. 

Boston Pension Acts of 1908 and 1910 

The city of Boston was empowered by a special Act in the 
same year to establish a non-contributory pension system for 
its teachers. 2 In 1910 it was provided that these pensions should 

lMassachusetts Acts of 1908, Chapter 498. 

^Massachusetts Acts of 1908, Chapter 589. This Act established the Permanent School 
Pension Fund of the City of Boston. The pension was not to exceed $180 a year. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 43 

be one-third of the teachers' maximum salary; the minimum pen- 
sion being $312 and the maximum I600. 1 Funds for these pen- 
sions were provided by a tax of five cents on every $1000 of 
taxable property in Boston; in 1915 this tax was raised to seven 
cents. The pension was granted to every teacher who had 
taught for thirty years, — ten in Boston, — and who had reached 
the age of 65. By a regulation of the School Committee, which 
took effect at the same time, all teachers were compelled to retire 
at the age of seventy. Disabled teachers who were under 65 
years of age were also entitled to a pension. The law states that 
this pension "shall bear the same ratio to the pension provided 
at retirement as the total number of years of service bears to thirty 
years." 2 

Many teachers who had retired before this law became effective 
could not live on the meagre allowances from the Retirement 
Fund and Mutual Benefit Society. After two years effort by 
public-spirited teachers, the legislature made the law retroactive, 3 
providing that "not less than 60 persons" who had retired before 
1908 should receive a pension of $180 a year, the amount then be- 
ing paid by the Retirement Fund Association. The oldest teachers 
were placed on the list of 60. As they died others took their 
places. Twelve teachers are still living in 1920 who have made 
application for this pension but have received nothing. 4 Thus all 
Boston teachers who have retired since 1908 have been granted 
pensions and most of those who retired before 1908 have received 
some assistance. 

Massachusetts State Pension System 

The state teachers' pension system was not established until 
1914, 5 although the needs of state teachers were greater than 

lMassachusetts Acts of 1910, Chapter 617, amended the Act of 1908 and increased the 
amount of the pension to § maximum salary. 

2Massachusetts Acts of 1908, Chap. 589. This Act established the Permanent School 
Pension Fund of the City of Boston. The pension was not to exceed $180 a year. 

3Mass. Acts of 1910, Chap. 617, also provided pensions of $180 for teachers who retired 
before 1908. 

*It was provided that applications for this pension should be made before 1912. 
Some teachers, the number of whom is not known to the School Committee, failed 
to make this application. It has been reported that some of these old teachers are in great 
need. One over 80, stone deaf, is being partially cared for by relatives but is in need of supple- 
mentary assistance. Another who served the city 28 years is in an old ladies' home. 

5 Acts of Mass. 1913, Chap. 832; amended Acts 1919, Chap. 292. Those towns still in favor 
of retaining the old system of 1908 might do so and the state would refund to the town "the 
amount of pension to which a teacher would be entitled if he had retired under the state system." 



44 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

those of Boston teachers. The founders of the system made a care- 
ful investigation of social insurance principles and of previous 
attempts to pension teachers in Massachusetts and in other states. 
The new system, one of the best in the United States, is a combina- 
tion of the non-contributory and the contributory plans. Half 
of the allowance is derived from the state funds and the other half 
from assessments on the teachers' salaries. The annuities derived 
from the assessments are based on strict actuarial principles. The 
total allowance is equal to approximately half the teacher's salary. 
All teachers entering the state service after passage of the law 
automatically become members of the Massachusetts Teachers' 
Retirement Association and pay 5 per cent of their salaries toward 
the retirement fund. Membership is voluntary for teachers enter- 
ing the service before 1914. If a teacher resigns or dies before 
retirement, the total amount she has contributed with the addi- 
tion of interest will be returned to her or her heirs. At retirement, 
which may take place at the age of 60 and is compulsory at 70, she 
may buy an annuity "to which the sum of her assessments at com- 
pound interest entitle her." She is not required to pay assess- 
ments for more than thirty years and is not allowed to pay more 
than will enable her to buy an annuity of $500 at the age of 60. If 
she retires at the age of 70 she will, of course, on insurance princi- 
ples, be able to buy a larger annuity with the same sum of money. 
The gift pension provided by the state is equal in amount to the 
annuity which the teacher has bought with her contributions. To 
teachers who were in the service of the state before 1914, provided 
they had taught fifteen years in Massachusetts, five of which 
immediately preceded retirement, the state gives an additional 
pension, "of such an amount that her (his) pension shall equal 
the pension to which she (he) would have been entitled if she (he) 
had paid the assessments for thirty years." 1 Since 1917 2 teachers, 
disabled after twenty years of service are allowed a fraction of 
the retirement pension, the amount based on the sum of their con- 
tributions. The minimum total retiring allowance for superan- 
nuated teachers was set at $300, but on account of the rise in 
salaries and in the cost of living, the minimum was raised in 1920 
to $400. 

lMass. Acts, of 1913, Chap. 832. 
2Mass. Acts of 1917, Chap. 233. 



OLD-AGE SUPPOKT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 45 

Comparison of the Boston and State Systems 

The requirements for receiving a pension are evidently some- 
what similar under the state and city systems. Retirement at the 
age of 70 is compulsory in both cases; the minimum legal age for 
retirement in Boston is 65 instead of 60, but many Boston teachers 
retire under the disability provision before they are 65. There 
is no length of service requirement in the Massachusetts law as in 
that of Boston, but a state teacher, in order to receive a substantial 
pension, must pay assessments for thirty years. 

The way in which the two systems work out, however, is differ- 
ent. All Boston teachers pay $18 a year, 1 per cent or less of 
their salaries, to the Retirement Fund, an organization which is 
entirely distinct from the city pension system. They can receive 
no more than the $120 annuity, an amount which is not guaranteed 
and is likely to diminish. State teachers contribute from $35 to 
$100 a year, 5 per cent of their salaries, and receive an annuity 
in exact accordance with their contributions. This annuity may be 
over $500. The city of Boston gives teachers one-third their 
former maximum salaries; the state, though it is paying more at 
present, plans to give one-quarter of the former salaries. The 
maximum pension that Boston teachers can receive is $600 plus 
$120 from the Retirement Fund; the maximum for state teachers 
is dependent on their contributions, and may be more than $1000. 

The Boston city pensions are open to two criticisms from which 
the state pensions, because they are partially contributory and 
based on the individual teacher's salary, are exempt. The Boston 
system is inelastic and not adjusted to the change in salaries. Since 
the salary raises of the last two years, all Boston teachers, princi- 
pals, high school and elementary teachers alike, will receive the 
same pension, the $600 maximum. The higher paid teachers, 
some of whom were visited, thought it unfair that their more ex- 
pensive education and greater ability were not recognized by 
larger pensions. The elementary teachers, on the contrary, said 
that, as their lower salaries did not permit of as much saving, the 
flat rate was just. The other criticisms were founded on the fact 
that the Boston pensions are non-contributory. The gift pensions, 
it was said, are deferred wages which should have been paid in 
previous years. Thus they serve as an excuse for low salaries. 



46 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



Some of the oldest retired teachers, who receive the lowest pen- 
sions, did not criticise but said that "the city was very good to 
them and that they were grateful for anything." Others con- 
demned the pensions as a charity, the acceptance of which lowered 
their self-respect. 

Both the Boston and state systems have a weakness which is 
not so much a fault of the systems as of the fact that the purchas- 
ing power of money has changed since the laws were passed. Under 
both systems the amount of the pension of the retired teacher is 
based on her former salary and does not change from year to year. 
On account of the rapid rise of salaries, those of elementary teach- 
ers having doubled since the passage of the pension act, 1 a teacher 
who retired in 1920 receives a much larger pension than a teacher 
of the same grade who retired a few years before. As the living 
expenses of the older teachers are quite as high and as the value 
of their service to the schools was no less, they feel that their 
smaller pensions are unjust. This feeling may perhaps be more 
clearly understood by studying the following table which shows 
the pensions to which Boston teachers with different dates of re- 
tirement are entitled. While the principle illustrated by this 
table applies also to state pensions, it should be remembered that 

lReport of the Special Commission on Teachers' Salaries, 1920. 
Average salary of elementary Boston and state teachers combined, 1910, $668.72. 
Average salary of elementary Boston and state teachers combined, 1920, $1,237.83. 
Average salary of elementary and high school teachers combined, 1910, $743.91. 
Average salary of elementary and high school teachers combined, 1920, $1,326.93. 



TABLE 12. CITY OF BOSTON PENSIONS TO WHICH RETIRED 
TEACHERS ARE ENTITLED 





Pension Rates Effective in Specified Years by Rank of Teacher 


YEARSi 


Assistants 
Elementary 


Assistants 
in Charge 


Masters' 
Assistants 


Assistants 
High School 


Principals 


1908M911, . 


312 


372 


436 


540 


600 


1912-1913, . 


344 


500 


500 


588 


600 


1914-1918, . 


392 


500 


500 


588 


600 


1919, . . 


456 


564 


564 


600 


600 


1920, . . 


584 


600 


600 


600 


600 


1921, . . 


600 


600 


600 


600 


600 



lThe salary rates were changed at the dates specified. As the pension is equivalent to one- 
third of the maximum salary, the pension rates shifted as above. 
2Teachers who retired before 1908 receive $180 a year. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 47 

state pensions have not reached the established maximum but 
are continuing to rise with the salary change. 

Elementary teachers, then, who retire in 1921 will receive a 
pension double that which they would have received if they had 
reached the retiring age between 1908 and 1911; assistants in 
charge will receive $220 more and principals will receive just the 
same amount in 1921 as in 1908. Of the group of 115 teachers 
visited, 26 elementary teachers and 22 assistants in charge retired 
before 1918, and 26 of all ranks retired before 1908. 

To illustrate further the situation which has arisen by this 
change in the pension rate, we found an elementary teacher who, 
after fifty-one years of service, retired in 1911 on a pension of $312. 
She is now old and infirm and, having exhausted her slender stock 
of savings, finds it difficult to pay the doctor and buy the comforts 
her increasing years demand. Another elementary teacher, who 
happened to reach the retiring age in 1920, would receive $584. 
She may still be strong and active, with her supply of savings un- 
touched. The only comment on the pension system of one of the 
teachers in this more favorable situation was: "The pension is 
too small." Is it surprising that the older teachers whose incomes 
are much less fitted to their needs feel that the system is unjust? 

Amounts of Pensions Received 

The adjustment of these pensions so that all teachers of the 
same grade will receive the same amount regardless of the date 
of their retirement, has not been attempted. When studying the 
actual amounts of pensions now being received by retired Boston 
and state teachers, it should be clearly borne in mind that these 
amounts represent the provision for old-age support of teachers 
made in the past, when the dollar had double the value of to-day. 

The Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement Board has granted 
pensions to 323 women teachers and 45 men teachers who have 
retired since July, 1914. Table 30. Over one-half, 55 per cent, 
of the women receive $300 a year, the legal minimum up to 1920. 
Three-quarters, 77 per cent, receive not more than $400, and only 
one-tenth, 11 per cent, over 600. The relation of women's pen- 
sions to those of men is clear. One-half of the men receive over 
and only three men receive the minimum. The largest pen- 



48 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

sions between $800 and $850 are obtained by four men and two 
women. It is obvious that principals in state schools have no 
cause to complain that their pensions bear no relation to the im- 
portance of their positions. 

Although it is planned that one-half of the state pensions 
shall be paid for by the teachers, their contributions in the six 
years since the passage of the law necessarily have been small. 
Of the 323 women teachers retired since 1914, 22 per cent retired 
at once and contributed nothing; 49 per cent contributed less than 
$100; 79 per cent less than $200 and 94 per cent less than $300^ 
Up to the present time, therefore, state teachers have been practi- 
cally in receipt of gift pensions. 

The amounts of pensions from public funds received by Boston 
teachers are higher than those received by state teachers, as will 
be seen by studying Chart V. 2 Nearly one-third, 29.2 per cent, 
of the 192 city teachers receive a pension between $301-$350 — 
most of them the legal minimum $312. Over one-half, 53.2 per cent 
receive not more than $400. Somewhat over one-tenth, 13 per 
cent, receive more than $500; but no one receives more than $600. 
As state teachers pay for a part of their pension, it would be 
fairer to compare their pensions with those received by Boston 
teachers after adding the annuities from the Retirement Fund 
Association to the gift , pensions from the city. This cannot be 
done, as the exact number of retired teachers who did not join the 
Retirement Fund Association is unknown. Undoubtedly most 
of the 192 teachers did join and receive $120 a year besides the 
city pension. 

An accurate idea of how the city pensions are augmented by 
annuities from the Retirement Fund and from the Mutual Benefit 
Society may be obtained from a study of the total allowances of 
the 115 retired teachers who were visited. Table 13. The pen- 
sions paid these teachers by the city fall into three distinct groups, 
$150 to $200, $301 to $400 and $401 to $500. By referring again 
to the table in which pensions were tabulated by year of retire- 
ment, these three main variations are easily explained. The 28 3 

Unformation obtained from the records of the Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement Asso- 
ciation. 

2Appendix, Table 31. 

3Two of these teachers received disability allowances. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 49 



CHART 3C PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF AFTER 

RETIREMENT ALLOWANCES RECEIVED BY 

MASSACHUSETTS, WOMEN TEACHERS. 1 



»300 STATE*54.e ^«^^^^ 
* 'CITY 






$331-400, SWE '*' 4 
* ^CITY 24.0 



»^«. ^ B « STATE 7.7 

Msi-soo, 3 ™* 1 4 ' 3 

*^ 'CITY I9fi 



*c«. =- A STATE 1.6 

*50t-55* ciTY ^ 



*». *«* STATE 3.4 
*55.-600 >C(ty ^ 



f f|| | | |m 

||L 



gi 



»*«« j STATE 5.6 
$600ond C(TY 

over, 



SIXTY TEACHERS ©RANTED THE SPECIAL 
PENSION OF ft ISO, AND 50 WHO RETIRED FOR 
DISABILITY ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS TABLE. 



50 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



TABLE 13. TOTAL PENSION FROM ALL SOURCES RECEIVED BY 
A SAMPLE GROUP OF RETIRED BOSTON WOMEN TEACHERS 



AMOUNT OF PENSION 



Number of Teachers 



Total, . . 
None, 

Less than $150, 

$150-200, . . 

$201-250, . . 

$251-300, . . 

$301-350, . . 

$351-400, . . 

$401-450, . . 

$451-500, . . 

$501-550, . . 

$551-600, . . 

$601-650, . . 

$651-700, . . 

$701-750, . . 

$751-800, . . 
Unknown, . 



115 1 
1 
1 
3 
2 
5 

22 
4 
6 

16 
7 

26 

10 
5 
2 
3 
2 



lSeven of these teachers retired for disability. 

teachers in the first group are those who, retiring before 1908, 
receive the $180 rate; the 37 teachers in the second group are 
elementary teachers or assistants in charge who, retiring before 
the raise in salaries, receive $312 and $372* respectively; the 29 
teachers in the third group are those who retired after the salary 
raise and are of different ranks. Five teachers only receive from 
$550 to $600, the amount all teachers will receive in the future. 
Two-thirds of the 115 receive not more than $400. When, however, 
the allowances from the three sources are considered, one-third 
of the 115 teachers receive not more than $400, and one-half more 
than $500. 

As three-quarters of the state teachers receive $400 or less, it 
is clear that the Boston pensions average higher than those of the 
state. This would remain true if the annuities from the Massachu- 
setts Guild were added to the state pensions. In the future both 
state and Boston teachers will receive larger pensions; the Boston 
pension will be limited to $720 while the state pension, since it 
will be based on contributions from greatly increased salaries, 

lOne of these teachers received a disability allowance. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 51 

will continue to rise. But at present neither state nor city supplies 
an adequate income for a teacher's old age. 

Disability Allowances of Boston and State Teachers 

The incomes from pensions paid to teachers who were obliged to 
give up work on account of illness, temporary or permanent, are 
still more inadequate. Disabled state teachers, for example, who 
have served twenty years or more and have retired since 1917, 
draw a much smaller income than the superannuated. Of 33 
disabled teachers, 13 receive from $200 to $250 a year; 13 more from 
$250 to $300. Five teachers receive less than $200 and only one 
over $300. 1 State teachers who are disabled before they have 
served twenty years are not entitled to any pension. 

The disability provisions for Boston teachers are somewhat 
more liberal. Nineteen of the 50 disabled teachers receive a pen- 
sion of more than $300. The largest group receive between $200 
and $300. Even with the addition of $120 from the Retirement 
Fund and $40 from the Mutual Benefit, these pensions are small. 
The inadequacy is more evident when the situations of seven 
teachers who retired for disability are studied. In the group of 
115 teachers, there were eighteen who had served full terms but 
had retired before they were 65 on account of ill-health, but these 
seven had served less than 30 years and were obliged to accept 
pensions less than the legal minimum for the superannuated. 
One of these teachers has no pension from any source; another has 
only $120 from the Retirement Fund; the others receive varying 
amounts; one as much as $407 from all sources. One teacher who 
is totally blind has a pension of $317 a year, but fortunately has a 
sister on whom to depend. Another, nervously worn out, is al- 
most completely supported by her mother, who happens to be in 
comfortable circumstances. Had the mother been dependent on 
the teacher's earnings, the situation would be distressing. Possibly 
the teacher who is drawing the largest of these disability allow- 
ances is more typical. She inherited an old and rundown house 
which she finally succeeded in selling for half the assessed value. 
The net profits from the sale were $700 on which she is now living. 
She is 54 years old, alone in the world, afflicted with arthritis and 

llnformation obtained from records of Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement Association. 



52 OLD-AGE SUPPOET OF "WOMEN TEACHERS 

heart trouble. She is afraid that if she lives, she will soon be obliged 
to seek the assistance of charity. 

Amount Necessary to Supplement Pensions 

How much should pensions be supplemented in order to provide 
a sufficient income on which an old or sick teacher can live in 
reasonable comfort? The minimum on which an active, single 
woman can live has been variously estimated by the Massachu- 
setts Minimum Wage Commission. One of the latest awards, 1 
made to women workers in the paper box industry, in May, 1920, 
is $15.50 a week or $806 a year. The amount needed for board is 
set at $9.00 a week. Teachers in Massachusetts paid an average 
board of $10.76 a week in 1920. 2 A retired teacher may not need 
as much food as a younger woman, but she will require extra com- 
forts and medical care. Moreover, all teachers have had certain 
educational advantages and have been accustomed to standards 
of living superior to what would be expected by workers in paper 
box factories. As yet no commission has estimated the amount 
necessary for the support of such women. 

Possibly the experiences of some of the teachers studied may 
throw some light on this question. One teacher writes that "A 
woman with an income of $10 a week can live comfortably in the 
country by keeping house in one or two rooms and having a gar- 
den." Her income from pensions is $536 a year. She allows her- 
self only $3 a week for food and mentions milk at twelve cents a 
quart as an important item in her budget. She is saving $100 a 
year for the future when she may be too feeble to care for herself. 
Another woman is living in the city on a pension of $10 a week. 
She manages to pay the rent of two cheap rooms and to buy food 
sparingly. She spends much of her time in making over old 
clothes as she has been able to buy nothing, not even a pair of 
shoes, since she retired two years ago. Another teacher, with 
only her pension to depend on, is "grateful when she is asked out to 
dinner." Although we have found teachers in good health living 
like this on an income of $500 or $600 a year, it does not seem un- 
reasonable to suggest that a retired teacher should have more than 

lThe latest award, December 30, 1920, was for women in the office and other building 
•cleaners' occupations, $15.40 weekly. 

2This figure is based on the report of the Teachers' Commission on Salaries, 1920, p. 126. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



53 



the $806 a year and that, at least in Boston, $1000 a year would 
not be an extravagant estimate. 

If $1000 a year is taken as a reasonable standard for an elderly 
lady, the retired teacher would have to supplement her pension 
to a large extent. The state teacher with a pension between $300 
and $400 would need $600 or $700 more, and the Boston teacher 
with a pension of $500 or $600 would need $400 or $500. The 
teacher retiring today, as has been emphasized, will find that her 
deficit is smaller. If the average salary of all state teachers, in- 
cluding Boston, is $1326 in 1920, the state teacher would have to 
make up a deficit of something like $400 and a Boston teacher a 
deficit of 



TABLE 14. FUNDS 1 ACCUMULATED FROM SAVINGS BY A 
SAMPLE GROUP OF BOSTON RETIRED TEACHERS 



AMOUNT OF SAVINGS 


Number of Teachers who Reported 
Amount of Savings as Specified: 


Total, 

No savings, 

$100 and less, 

$101-500, 

$501-1000, 

$1001-1500, 

$1501-2000, 

$2001-2500, 

$2501-3000, 

$3001-3500, . . 

$3501-4000, 

$4501-5000, 

$5001-5500, 

$5501-10,000, 

Over 10,000, 

Unknown, 


115 
21 
1 
10 
8 
2 
8 
3 
6 
2 
5 
1 
2 
4 
5 2 
37 



lThese savings do not include savings in the form of contributions toward the Boston Re- 
tirement Fund and Mutual Benefit Societies. 
2Three saved more than $15,000. 



Savings as a Resource for After-Retirement Support 
p The limitation of a pension as an old age provision was un- 
doubtedly recognized by the founders of the pension system. 
Savings should be considered as important and legitimate sources 



54 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

of income. As one teacher wrote in discussing her savings, "The 
feeling of independence and security thus gained (by saving) 
can never be attained by any pension or other gratuitous provision 
that could be made." The amounts saved by the group of 115 
teachers have therefore been studied. Little information about 
these savings, however, was obtainable. No retired teachers de- 
pendent on state pensions were seen, and a third of the Boston 
teachers were unwilling to state the amounts which they had been 
able to set aside from their earnings. Savings, they said, were too 
private a matter for discussion, one announcing that she would 
tell no one, not even her brother. Of the remaining 78 teachers 
who were more communicative, 21 said they had saved absolutely 
nothing for use after retirement. The table preceding gives the 
amounts saved. Table 14. 

These sums are remarkably small. Eleven teachers who did 
not save more than $500 might almost be classed with the 21 who 
had saved nothing. Of the remaining 46, one-half saved no more 
than $3000 and only a quarter more than $5000. The five 
teachers who saved more than $10,000 were evidently excep- 
tional. To sum up: of 115 Boston teachers slightly less than 
one-third saved nothing or almost nothing; one-third saved some- 
thing but refused to state the amount; 1 slightly more than one- 
third saved varying amounts of which one-half were not more 
than $3000. 

Value of Savings Measured in Annuities 

The value of such savings to the teachers at retirement may be 
represented by the value of the annuities which they would pur- 
chase. Figures from the Massachusetts Savings Bank Insurance 
are quoted below as they give rather more reasonable rates than 
commercial insurance companies. 

At the age of 65 the following amounts will purchase annuities 
through the Massachusetts Savings Bank Life Insurance as specified: 
$1,000 savings $95 . 80 annuity 

2,000 " 191.60 

3,000 " 287.40 

4,000 " 383.20 

5,000 " 479.00 " 

lThe visitors estimate that with two exceptions none of these women saved more than 
$10,000. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 55 

One-half of the teachers who saved as above, therefore, provided 
they waited until they were 65, could invest their savings in an- 
nuities which would amount to over $350 a year; one-quarter 
more could get annuities of nearly $200 a year; the remainder con- 
siderably less. Only three of the retired teachers actually did 
invest in annuities. A few drew a high rate of interest from stocks 
or bonds, but the majority received a low rate of interest from 
savings banks. 1 Hence the actual value of the savings to the 46 2 
teachers who saved, is considerably less than that represented by 
the annuities. 

Benefits from savings which the teachers must have anticipated 
have been sadly diminished by the decrease in the purchasing 
power of money. The Teachers' Commission on Salaries 3 esti- 
mates that the teachers cost of living from 1910 to 1920 has risen 
99.7 per cent. In other words the dollar is worth just half as 
much as in 1910. The saving of $2000 in the past must have cost 
the teacher the same self-denial which is required today for the 
saving of $4000. 

Reasons for Small Amounts Saved 

Taking into consideration the change in the value of money, 
the savings of these teachers still seem unreasonably small and 
require some explanation. Low salaries, family cares, illness, 
possibility of inheritance, and lack of thrift, factors already dis- 
cussed at length in the preceding section as influencing the savings 
of active teachers, were responsible also for the meagre savings of 
the retired teachers. It is difficult to estimate the relative impor- 
tance of these factors. Should the greater responsibility be 
charged to low salaries or to lack of thrift? 

The different points of view of the teachers may be enlightening. 
One of the attitudes often met was a blind faith in Providence. 
As one teacher remarked, "I never worried about the future. I 
gave every cent to my family and trusted that the Lord would pro- 
vide and He has." Other teachers, who were not so fortunate 
as to be provided for by unexpected legacies, blamed themselves 
bitterly for not saving while they had a chance. One teacher said 

lEight teachers invested in insurance and 13 in real estate. 
*The savings of 37 other teachers are unknown. 
JReport 1920, p. 27. 



56 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

frankly that she had been improvident and spent her salary on 
clothes and amusements. Others believed that, while saving was 
desirable, it was impossible for them. One writes, "I saved noth- 
ing from my meagre salary during 48 years continuous service. 
But if there had not been others I was in duty bound to assist, 
I might have saved a little for myself." The other point of view, 
that material savings were possible, is illustrated by the experience 
of one lady who succeeded in saving $9000 from a first assistant's 
salary. Although she had a sick sister dependent on her, every 
month she put a little something in the savings bank. She 
scrimped and scraped, she did not go to concerts or theatres, she 
has never been outside Massachusetts in her life, she made many 
of her clothes, and walked when she wished to take the street car. 
By still practising such economies, she manages to get along on 
her income from these savings and her pension, which amount to 
a little over $800 a year, the minimum wage standard. 

Large Savings of Exceptional Women 

More substantial savings were possible to some unusual women. 
It will be remembered that five of the teachers visited had accumu- 
lated more than $10,000 from their savings. The experiences of 
the two who had the largest sums are worth mentioning. One who 
had no resource other than the salary of an elementary teacher, at 
retirement had accumulated $25,000 by fortunate investments in 
real estate. The other had a capital of $20,000. She had not been 
exempt from family cares, but had supported her mother entirely 
and her father partially, and after their deaths, helped two widowed 
sisters. "When I was 32 years old, and had taught 14 years, I 
had $25 in the savings bank. I was then earning $400 a year. 
Seven years later, I came to Boston at a salary of $1500. For 
twenty-five subsequent years I had the first assistant's place and a 
salary of $1620. When I came to Boston I had accumulated for 
my twenty-one years' service $2000; when I retired I had perhaps 
$20,000." It should be noted that this teacher must have had 
unusual ability for she obtained one of the highest salaries paid 
in her day. The other, who was quoted, must either have had ex- 
ceptional business acumen or remarkably good luck. The average 
teacher, no matter how thrifty, could not have saved such amounts. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



57 



No doubt all teachers might have saved something if they had been 
willing to economize in every possible way, but it seems fair to 
assume that low salaries have made substantial savings for most 
teachers impossible. 

Total Income Received by Boston Teachers from Earnings and Pensions 
After this discussion of the amounts which the teachers suc- 
ceeded in saving, it is not surprising to find that savings did not 
supplement pensions to any adequate degree, and that the two 
sources, taken together, do not approach a possible living allow- 
ance for the majority of the retired teachers. The total incomes 
available from earnings to 94 teachers are shown in Table 15. 



TABLE 15. ANNUAL INCOMES OF RETIRED BOSTON TEACHERS 
FROM PENSIONS AND SAVINGS FROM SALARIES 



AMOUNT OF INCOME PER YEAR 


Number of Teachers 


Total, 


115 


$300 and less, . 


9 1 


$301-400, 


12 


$401-500, 


10 


$501-600, 


25 


$601-700, 


21 


$701-800, 


8 


$801-900, . . . 


4 


$901-1000, 

Over $1000, 


2 
3 2 




21 



lOne Disabled; and 1 has No Income. 
Uncome of 2 over $15,000. 

Twenty-one of the women refused to state the amounts of their 
annual incomes. It is noticeable that only three teachers have 
more than $1000 a year, the amount taken as desirable. On the 
contrary the most common incomes are those between $500 and 
$600 and $600 to $700. Only one-fifth of the group receive more 
than $700, while a third receive under or not more than $500. 
Nine teachers have $300 or less. 

A mere glance at these figures shows that these 94 women, at 
any rate, have not secured from their profession a living wage, 



58 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

that is, the amount necessary to support them during retirement 
as well as in active life. An argument to prove the inadequacy 
of these incomes is unnecessary. The amount which their in- 
comes fall short of a bare minimum is suggested by a comparison 
with the Minimum Wage figure. Teachers may be called un- 
thrifty; the shrinkage of the dollar may be held partly accountable 
for the low value of their savings. The fact nevertheless remains 
that the representatives of the public who have fixed the economic 
returns of the profession, must be charged with the main responsi- 
bility. They have permitted refined and educated women after 
thirty or forty years of service to the children of the public schools 
to become partially dependent. 

Sources from which Incomes from Earnings are Supplemented 

Thirteen only of the retired teachers in the group of 115 were 
found living on the proceeds of their profession. The others had 
all found means to supplement their incomes. Legacies were the 
most common resource; generous relatives and friends or some 
form of paid work were the main reliance of others; a few too 
feeble to work were obliged to accept help from charitable sources. 
Inheritances were found to be the most important supplementary 
source. Two-thirds of the group had legacies of some kind; 
more than one-third had legacies of over $5000 in value. It was 
impossible to get at the exact amount of many of these inheri- 
tances, but some of the teachers, receiving more than $5000 were 
living in comfort and three or four in comparative luxury. The 
inheritances of five at least were not more than $1000. Those 
of others consisted of run down real estate or, in a few cases, of 
abandoned farms, both of which were likely to be liabilities rather 
than assets. Though the amounts inherited often were small, 
they saved many from the possible fate recognized by one teacher 
who said, "Had it not been for legacies which came to me it would 
have been necessary for me to find some employment after leav- 
ing the service." Sixteen of the teachers whose city pensions are 
$180, and sixteen more whose savings were negligible, fortunately 
were remembered in this way by their families. The situation of 
two of these is typical of others. One has no pension from the 
city; the other has $180; both have annuities to the amount of 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 59 

$160 a year from the Retirement and Mutual Benefit Funds; 
both inherited exactly the same amounts, or incomes of $800 a 
year. The first, who is crippled with rheumatism, lives with a 
friend in a comfortable apartment with a maid; the other, 83 
years old is obliged to care for two sick, elderly nephews and is 
struggling to keep up the interest on the mortgage which encum- 
bers the dilapidated family home. What would have happened 
to these two old ladies if they had not had resources aside from 
their profession? 

Forced by actual lack of food and of other necessities, they might 
have received assistance from the two funds which were organized 
for the benefit of needy teachers. The first, or Billings Fund, was 
left by Robert Charles Billings for the benefit of members of the 
Mutual Benefit Association who were in "mental and physical 
distress." The income is at present being granted to twelve re- 
tired teachers who receive $40 each and an occasional extra pres- 
ent. The second or Teachers' Relief Fund was founded in 1910 
by active teachers who sympathized with the sufferings of their 
impoverished professional associates. The Committee which 
administers this fund summarizes the causes of teachers' poverty 
as follows: (1) "Long continued personal illness; (2) loyalty 
to family requiring maintenance of home, education of younger 
members of family, assistance during the illness of members of 
family; (3) old age with no younger generation to whom one 
can rightfully turn; (4) poor investments." 1 Appeals for contri- 
butions are made to all members of the Teachers' Clubs and usu- 
ally these vary from $1100 to $1800 a year. One year, by special 
appeal, $3600 was collected. To quote from the treasurer's re- 
port, "The year 1919-1920 finds twenty beneficiaries on our list, 
five of whom are over eighty years of age. Two are ill with tuber- 
culosis, 2 two more are afflicted with the loss of the sense of hear- 
ing, others are shut away from work from other causes and are 
finding difficulty in meeting the needs of today with the incomes 
of yesterday. * * * The majority are receiving quarterly pay- 
ments which vary in amount from $15 to, in one case, $50 a 
quarter." 3 

iReport of Relief Committee, 1918. 

2The Teachers Relief Fund also makes a special effort to help disabled teachers. 

3Report of Relief Committee, 1918. 



60 OLD-AGE SUPPOET OP WOMEN TEACHERS 

Four of the teachers visited acknowledged that they were re- 
ceiving assistance from these funds, and judging from the fact 
that the funds have a list of 32 beneficiaries, it is probable that 
others were too proud to admit that they also were in receipt of 
such aid. The situation of one of these beneficiaries, who was 
seen, probably is not unusual. Though an old-fashioned gentle- 
woman over 80 years old, she is nevertheless obliged to live in an 
unheated, ugly room of a third-rate boarding house. The com- 
bined effort of the agent of the Teachers' Relief Fund and of a 
nephew enable her to supplement her meagre pension and savings 
sufficiently to meet her board of $8 a week. 

The most important supplementary sources of income other 
than inheritance were aid from relatives and part-time earnings. 
Thirty-five had earned something since retirement and 27 were 
being helped by relatives. Of these 27, twenty-four lived either 
with sisters or other relations, and paid a small board; the others 
received gifts of money. It is impossible to estimate the aid given 
in this way. Instances of disabled teachers dependent on their 
famihes have already been cited, and illustrate well the kind of 
aid given the old teacher. Only occasionally was the help given 
grudgingly. One old lady, whose mind was almost gone, makes 
her home with a widowed sister whose own income is inadequate. 
The sister keeps her warm and gives her enough to eat, but does 
not take the trouble to treat her with kindness or to give the 
needed physical care. 

The assistance given by friends to six of the teachers is similar 
to that given by relatives. The situation of one of these is a pleas- 
ant contrast to that just described. This old lady, over 65 years 
of age, retired twenty years ago on a total pension of $180 and a 
small savings bank account. She pays a board of $5 a week for 
a very pleasant home, the same board that she paid twenty years 
ago. Her landlady, on whom she has no real claim, has taken 
pains to hide from her the fact that the cost of living has gone 
up and that her payments do not cover her expenses. 

Although thirty-five women supplemented their incomes by 
finding some work, the amounts earned at different times since 
retirement are small. Eighteen were unable to estimate their 
yearly earnings; the others earned anywhere from $780 a year for 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 61 

full time work to $50 a year for crocheting. Two have done tutor- 
ing, another who has lost the power of speech, makes preserves 
and earns about $100 a year. Probably few have ever earned 
more than $200 or $300 a year. Only two, including the one who 
earned the largest sum mentioned, worked full time. Both re- 
tired on account of disability, deafness and nervousness, before 
the age of 65. The teacher retiring at the age of 50 on a pension of 
$432 a year, first found a position as companion at $25 a month, 
later as a teacher of English to private pupils at $50 a month, 
and is now a government clerk. The teacher who retires at 65 or 
70 must be content with occupations which require less strength 
and bring in less return. Table 28. 

All the thirty-one teachers, whose incomes are $500 or less help 
meet their living expenses from one or more of these sources. 
Nineteen have inheritances; 7 are able to earn a little; 13 are 
cared for by relatives; 2 are drawing allowances from the Teachers' 
Funds and two more are in old ladies' homes. Often reliance on 
more than one form of aid is necessary. One old lady with a pen- 
sion of $337 lives with a niece, has used her inheritance of $2000, 
received presents from a friend and a Christmas gift from the 
Teachers' Relief Fund. Another supplemented her pension of 
$160 a year, her minute savings and inheritance, by a generous 
gift from the Teachers' Relief Fund, which enabled her to pay for 
admission to an old ladies' home. 

Thirteen teachers, as stated before, manage to get on without 
any of these forms of assistance. Their pensions, as might be 
expected, are, with two exceptions, among the largest granted. 
All but two others had saved an appreciable amount. Of the two 
entirely dependent on their pensions, one receives a total of $724 
and the other a total of $589 a year. Both had been forced to use 
their savings to pay doctors' bills. Fortunate legacies and the 
assistance of friends and relatives relieves the remaining 102 
teachers from the necessity of becoming dependent on charity. 

CONCLUSION 

If it is admitted that a woman's profession should yield sufficient 
income for maintenance after a lifetime of working, the study of 
the experiences of these women teachers forces us to the conclusion 



62 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

that the teaching profession has not measured up to this require- 
ment. It has been a parasitic profession because its members 
have been and still are obliged to seek assistance from other 
sources in order to supply a bare living. Remedies for the 
benefit of the active teachers are being worked out. Their 
salaries are being raised with resulting increases in future pen- 
sions and in possible savings. No plan has as yet been recom- 
mended to compensate the teachers already retired, for the 
sufferings entailed by the low salaries of the past and by the 
unforeseen rise in the cost of living. Would it not be fair to 
adjust their pensions so that they will approximate those paid 
to teachers of corresponding ranks who retire in 1921? 



CHAPTER IV 

OLD-AGE LIVING CONDITIONS OF RETIRED 
BOSTON TEACHERS 

A well-rounded picture of the old-age life of the teacher requires 
answers to such questions as : For how long an after retirement 
period must she provide? Does she seek a new environment or 
remain with old associates? Is she able to continue the same 
standard of living? Does she live alone or as a part of a family 
group? To what extent has she cared for dependents? Is she, 
in turn, being helped? Does she desire associates of her own age 
or prefer younger companions? Does she maintain her general 
social interests? To what extent does she engage in part-time 
paid work? Is she happy? 

Probable Length of Life After Retirement 

To revert to the first proposition, for just how long a period is 
it reasonable for a teacher to expect to live after retirement? 
The largest numbers of Massachusetts teachers retire at the ages 
of 60 and 70. Table 2. Since 1908, when the city pension system 
went into effect, over three-sevenths of the Boston teachers have 
retired when they were 65 to 70 years of age. Table 1. For pur- 
poses of comparison with other data, let us consider the teachers' 
probable expectations of life at the ages of 62, 67, and 72. For 
persons of these ages the American Experience Table of Mortality 
gives the following average expectations of life: one 62 years of 
age may anticipate 12.8 years, while one 67 may look forward to 
10.0 years, and one 72 has 7.5 years ahead. The records of the 
Boston Teachers' Retirement Association covering 20 years and 
showing 90 deaths, may be expected to reveal an average trend. 
In comparison with the standard expectation rates just quoted, 
these records show the average length of life to teachers retiring 
at different ages to be as follows: 62, 9.4 years; 67, 8.9 years; 72, 
6.5 years. But it must be remembered that, since the data covers 
a period of only twenty years, a disproportionate number of the 



64 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

short-lived teachers are included. It seems probable that at a 
later date, when full returns supply the length of life of those of 
greater longevity, the average will be raised so that it will equal 
or possibly exceed the average of the American Table. 1 

Of these 90 women who have died since 1900, one-third lived 
less than five years, three-fifths lived less than ten years, and only 
7 survived 15 years or longer. Though but one woman of this 
group lived to be over 79 years old, this does not indicate that 
school teachers are never long lived, for the investigators found 
thirteen old ladies who were 80 years of age or over. When their 
length of life is averaged with that of the other teachers, the result 
will show a considerable increase in the average expectation of 
life of the group. 

Even those teachers who retired because of invalidity rather 
than because of length of service were in need of substantial sums 
in order to provide themselves with support and medical care. 
While their average length of life was 5 years less than the average 
computed in the American Experience Table, only 8 of them died 
within 5 years, the remainder lived between 5 and 15 years. 
Table 16. 

While the average for the teachers who retire for invalidity 
is 9 years and for those retiring because of length of service is 
9.4, 8.9, 6.5 years according to the age of retirement, this by no 
means represents the old-age period for which thrifty and far- 
sighted teachers should make provision. None can be sure that 
she will fail to reach the maximum length of fife which has been 
estimated at 95 years. This would necessitate providing for an 
old-age period varying from 25 to 35 years. 

What Becomes of the Teacher After Retirement 

Just what does become of the teacher after she retires? Being 
no longer "Johnnie's Teacher," she usually slips from the public 
eye. There are three aspects to her disappearance: First, does 
she remain in the same geographical location? If so, does she con- 
tinue to five in about the same section of the city and to enjoy 

iThe records of the State Teachers' Retirement Association show 59 deaths. One of 
these persons lived to be over 79 years of age. However, these records date only from 1914 
and the deaths of many old teachers now living will modify any average expectation of life 
which might be computed from records of the State Retirement Association. Appendix, 
Table 33, 34. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF "WOMEN TEACHERS 



65 



TABLE 16. NUMBER OF YEARS INTERVENING BETWEEN 

RETIREMENT AND DEATH OF BOSTON WOMEN TEACHERS, 

BASED ON RECORDS OF THE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT 

ASSOCIATION. 1900-1920 



AGES AT 
RETIREMENT 



All Ages, 

Under 55 years, 
55-59 years, 
60-64 years, 
65-69 years, 
70-74 years, 
75-79 years, 
SO years and 
over, 



Women who Retired at Ages Specified 
and who Lived for: 



Total 



90 1 

3 

18 
16 
27 
21 
4 



Less than 
5 years 



30 



5 

3 

9 

10 

2 



5 and less 
than 10 years 



25 

2 
7 
5 
5 
5 
1 



10 and less 
than 15 years 



28 

1 
5 
6 
9 
6 
1 



15 and less 
than 18 years2 



iThose teachers living longer than 20 years after retirement are not included in this table. 
The investigators found that 13 of the 115 retired teachers who were interviewed were 80 
years old or over, while 22 were from 75 to 79 years old, inclusive. When the length of life 
of these is added to the others, the number living to be 75 years old and over will be very 
much increased. 

2None over 18 years. 

her old associates? And, third, is it possible for her to maintain 
the same standard of living that she has formerly known? 

Of the 299 women teachers on the Boston Teachers' pension 
list at the time of this report, 56.5 per cent were living in Boston 
or its suburbs, 37.4 per cent in New England other than Boston, 
and 6 per cent elsewhere in the United States or Canada. The 
tendency, then, was to hover around New England and princi- 
pally Boston. We have no data for these 299 which would answer 
our second question, so for this purpose the 115 individually visited 
will be used. Of this number, 80.9 per cent remained in about 
the same section of the city, among old friends, while 19.1 per 
cent made new homes and new acquaintances. Although these 
figures seem significant, it must not be forgotten that all but 4 of 
the 115 interviewed were living in Boston and its suburbs at the 
time they were visited. It was impossible to obtain schedules for 
more than 4 who had left the city. Thus it is evident that the 
data collected is representative of a group who naturally would 
show less mobility than the entire body of retired teachers. 



66 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

Is the teacher able to maintain the same standard of living? 
Considering once more the 115 women studied, the group may be 
divided into three classes. Over one-half were found living in 
about the same circumstances maintained while they were teach- 
ing, about one-tenth had bettered themselves, while over a quarter 
of the number had been forced to adopt a much meaner standard 
of living. Chart VI. 

Most cases of more comfortable living had been made possible 
by inheritances from rich relatives or by the solicitous care of older 
brothers or other devoted members of the family. As an illustra- 
tion of this, one teacher was found living with her sister in a very 
lovely part of the city, in a charming house. An older brother 
whom she had helped when he was struggling to start in business 
had bought the house for them, supplied coal and light, leaving 
them to pay only for their personal expenses. Another woman had 
gone to live with a widowed sister where she had all the com- 
panionship and comforts of a home of luxury. 

But those who visited the retired teachers quickly forgot the 
comforts and happiness of this small group in their sympathy for 
that larger number found living in meagre circumstances or even 
in dire straits. Teachers who are women of culture and refinement 
must suffer keenly from such radical changes in their living condi- 
tions. Delicacy forbids our describing fully the sordidness of the 
surroundings of some of these women, but let us picture briefly a 
few of the homes in which they were found. 

In a neglected part of the city, the visitor was admitted to a 
dark, musty hall after the hollow sounding bell had jingled its 
melancholy note many times. She was taken to the kitchen, the 
only room in use, where a feeble fire added little brightness to the 
grim loneliness of its inhabitants. 

In one case the inheritance of a dilapidated old house was all 
that had enabled the woman to remain independent. This house, 
unpainted for a decade, with one wall leaning and crumbling, and 
with leaking roof, stood a mere remnant of what had been a pros- 
perous home. Once on a popular, residential street, it now stood 
unsalable, in a forlorn and neglected part of the city, though still 
boasting a professional sign — put up some 30 years before — as if 
to lift its head above its neighbors. Inside, there were some books 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



67 



CHARTS!. -RELATIVE. STANDARDS OF LIVING OF BOSTON 
KETIWED TEACHERS. 1 



26.6' 




6 \.Tf. 



SAME AS BEFORE RETIRED 
BETTER . 
LOWERED . 



DATA USED IS THE INFORMATION FROM THE 115 TEACHERS 
STUDIED. 



68 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

in beautiful bindings, chairs of the colonial period but with the 
stuffing falling out of their haircloth, pictures and engravings from 
England, and other relics of a better day. There were no rugs 
upon the floor. The woman could afford to buy neither coal to 
keep her warm nor food to nourish her adequately. Her only 
means of heat were the gas plate in the kitchen and the gas grate 
in the parlor. 

Another touching instance was that of a dainty little woman 
who after retirement had been forced to sell her home and to share 
rooms with a family of much lower standards than her own. 

Oil burners seemed to be the chief heating devices of these un- 
fortunate women. On one occasion the visitor was timidly ad- 
mitted to a dark, smelly hall. As she passed by an open door she 
saw another little old lady who, in her last sickness, was lying 
faded and still in her bed. Going on, the feeble guide at last 
brought the field worker to her own living quarters, a musty and 
grimy back parlor, heated only by an oil burner which had barely 
taken the chill off the room and yet had made it foul with its odors. 

Still another room stands out in the memory of the visitor. It 
was a sitting room whose walls were covered with paper of large, 
hideous, red figures. In some places the plastering was about to 
drop from the ceiling, in other spots it had already fallen leaving 
large strips of lath visible. Because of the approaching blindness 
of the tidy little ex-teacher, the room was mussy and dirty 
showing signs of a vain endeavor to keep house. 

Besides the run-down family homesteads and shabby rooms or 
apartments there were also the decrepit family hotels and the old 
ladies' homes to which these teachers had turned for shelter. 
While those in the hotels were fairly comfortable, there was a cer- 
tain air of sordidness in their surroundings suggesting the gradual 
decline in the standards of these places. Taking a typical case, 
when the teachers first came to the hotel there were two janitors, 
an elevator and all corresponding services. Now the one janitor 
comes when he cares to, the rooms are cold, no elevator lightens the 
burden of four flights of dismal, ill-smelling stairs. The furnace 
heat is insufficient and often the gas lights are allowed to burn 
throughout the day to supply a little additional warmth. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 69 

In comparison with the hotels, the two old ladies' homes seemed 
quite attractive since they were immaculately clean, well-heated, 
and suitably furnished. The women there were assured necessary 
attendants, medical care and nursing. While these institutions 
seemed to care for all physical needs, the associations might prove 
somewhat wearing for women of education and refinement. One 
retired teacher said that she objected to an old ladies' home be- 
cause she could not endure constant contact with women who 
were garrulous and empty-headed. She declared that silence was 
her refuge and that she wanted to enjoy the peace of quietude dur- 
ing which she could live over experiences of the past. 

These somewhat distressing pictures of the surroundings in 
which retired Boston teachers were found are evidence of their 
inability to provide themselves with old-age homes adapted to 
the tastes of women with standards such as they must have been 
accustomed to before their retirement. No doubt the explanation 
lies in the facts that the value of savings and pensions has been 
declining and that the care of many dependents has been both 
physically and financially depleting. 

Living Arrangements 

Turning from the descriptions of the places of residence of these 
women, let us see just what were the living arrangements of the 
retired teachers. Table 17. Of the 115 studied, a little over two- 
fifths were living in houses, a somewhat smaller proportion in 
apartments, one out of six was living alone in a single room, while 
only two had found their way to old ladies' homes. Of the 50 
teachers living in houses, nine-tenths were parts of family groups 
while of those occupying apartments, three-fourths enjoyed family 
life. But in both cases over half of this number lived with only 
one other relative. 

Dependents 

If anyone doubts that women should have equal wages with 
men, let him examine the experiences of the noble women who have 
taught our children. Many of their fives have been one continual 
self-sacrifice to those who have been dependent upon them. The 
wonder is that they did "carry on" instead of giving up or growing 



70 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



bitter under their loads. It has been the lot of the teacher to 
educate brothers and sisters only to see them marry and go off 
happy with their own families while she, the older sister, was left 
to continue the home for the mother and father and to keep it 
open for the widowed sisters, orphaned nieces and nephews, sick 
brothers, uncles, and aunts. Hers is hardly a problem of mere self- 

TABLE 17. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS OF RETIRED BOSTON 
WOMEN TEACHERS 



LIVING ARRANGEMENTS 



Total, 

Living in houses : 

Keeping house for themselves, 
Parts of family groups, 
With relatives, 1 . . . 

With friends, 1 

Living in apartments: 

Keeping house for themselves, 
Parts of family groups, 

With relatives, .... 
With friends, ..... 
Living alone in single rooms : 
Living in institutions : 
Unknown: 



Teachers 


Number 


Per Cent 


115 


100. 


50 


43.5 


5 




45 




39 2 




6 




44 


38.3 


11 




33 




18 3 




15 4 




18 5 


15.7 


2 


1.7 


1 


.8 



iThree of those found living with relatives and one living with friends were spending their 
old age in rural communities. All of the other teachers studied preferred to continue urban 
life. 

2Twenty-two of the 39 live with only one relative. 

3Fourteen of the 18 live with only one relative (usually a sister or daughter). 

4Six of the 15 live with only one other person. 

BTwo of the 18 live in single rooms in hotels. 

support. Of the 115, twenty were caring for dependents when they 
were visited, 43 had been helping relatives since they had retired 
but previous to the visit, and fifty had carried heavy family respon- 
sibilities while they were teaching. Of this number, eight cared 
for three persons at a time, three cared for four at once, and one 
cared for five persons at the same time. Table 18. Over a fourth, 
28.3 per cent, of the teachers never had cared for dependents. 

As for the relationship of the dependents cared for by these 
women, we find that there were 84 female dependents as against 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



71 



40 males. Table 19. Mothers, sisters, and nieces were the depen- 
dent ones in the majority of cases though there were instances of 
cousins, daughters, sisters-in-law, and step-daughters. Of the 
male dependents, brothers and nephews, with frequencies in the 
order stated, were found. Three kinds of partial support were re- 
corded : the teacher had either opened her home to the dependents, 
had given money towards their support, or had paid for school- 
ing. There were ten instances of girls and eight of boys who re- 
ceived this latter form of assistance. 

The following examples stood out among the teachers who 
showed exceptional devotion to others. It must not be forgotten 
that most of these instances were discovered almost by accident 
for many of those who had done most were very reluctant to tell 
the visitor of their sacrifices. When there were no savings to be 
recorded, the investigator usually found that all resources had 
been drained in caring for dependents. 

One woman had assumed entire care of her mother and invalid 
sister for years until their death. Since that time she had had one 
or two friends whom she had looked after, either keeping them in 
her home or paying their expenses in the country. 



TABLE 18. DEPENDENTS CARED FOR BY RETIRED BOSTON 
WOMEN TEACHERS 



NUMBER OF DEPENDENTS 



Total Number of 
Teachers with 
Dependents, 

One, 

Two, . . 

Three, 

Four, . . 

Five, . . 
No Dependents, 
Unknown, . 
Total Teachers, 



Teachers having Dependents: 



After Retirement 



When 
Visited 



20 

16 

3 

1 



Prior 
to Visit 



43 

28 

9 

5 

1 



While 
Teaching 



50 

32 

13 

2 

2 

1 



95 



61 
11 



54 
11 



115 



115 



115 



72 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



O 
H 

o 

« 

o 
p 



P 
P 



Kg 

P 6 

%< 

Ph P 

S ° 

M < 

H g 

O 



P 

Hi 

PQ 



T3 

o 

ft 
ft 

fl 

02 

j*> 
[3 

H 

03 


"3 

w 

o 

a 

3 

S 

2 


"o 
o 

o 
02 


O 1 HW 1 N-*00 I MNH tHt-H 


Money 
Con- 
trib- 
uted 


M H M 1I5M 1 H CO M 1 <* IO 1 t-H 
M H H | t-H 


© | FT-] 

S o © 


N WXH 1 1 | N 1-4 TJ4 C4 1 1 I 


a 




ffliOOWH 1 H ffl I M tJ( iM I I 


o 

ft >i 

S5 

O f-i 

H 


Ol O (O ffl N (M-^C35-*-*TtlT-(< H IN 

(M T— 1 


<U 
rH 

o 
ft 

ft 

02 
_>> 

"3 

e 
W 


"3 
M 
o 

u 

3 
"S 

2 


Money 
Con- 
tribu- 
tions 


NMM 1 1 NNH 1 I 1 1 t-H 


Go© 


N 00 CO ^ 1 1 ^ ON M H 1 1 Td 


IS 

s 


° o 2 
0£° 


§* N *| | |«^^| | - 




OINH | 1 (ONIN H 1 | |TfH 


Total 

Number 

Receiving 

Help 


*iOO WCQ NH ON O OO i-H !>• 
00 (N CO H t-H -H^ t-H 




1 
1 


1h^ 


Females : . 

Mother, 

Sister, . 

Niece, . 

Cousin, . 

Unrelated 
children, . 

Others, 
Males: . . 

Father, . . 

Brother, 

Nephew, 

Cousin, . 

Unrelated 
children, . 

Others, 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 73 

Another woman did not begin teaching until some years after 
her marriage which occurred when she was nineteen. After a long, 
expensive illness, her husband died of consumption leaving her 
burdened with the care of five children. The generous resources 
of her mother, used in her assistance, were exhausted just prior 
to the mother's death. The young widow hired a maid to look 
after her children and bravely set forth to earn their support by 
teaching sewing. She finally overcame the obstacles that were 
put in her way and secured a position. About that time her 
children began to show signs of delicate health. Out of necessity 
she kept on teaching and one by one the children sickened and 
died. Years passed, one son was yet living and the woman had 
retired on a meagre pension. The boy had worked his way into 
a good position and soon would have been able to give his mother 
a comfortable home. Then he was stricken with influenza and 
died. Left thus alone, her heart broken and all vision of future 
happiness destroyed, she struggled on — one of life's tragedies — 
with just enough money with which to eke out an existence. 

Mrs. A's life is still another typifying the real struggles of these 
women. When 21 she was left a widow with a baby one month old. 
She went to live with her mother whose resources were small. As 
she had previously graduated from Normal school, she started 
teaching. For many years she helped support her mother and 
daughter. While a successful teacher she was able to give her 
daughter a good education. The girl, however, soon married. In 
the meantime, Mrs. A had been put in charge of a school and was 
teaching other teachers in night classes, and was quite prominent 
in educational activities. With the marriage of her daughter 
and death of her mother, her family responsibilities should cer- 
tainly have ceased, but not so. A sick aunt came to make her 
home with her. The woman had experienced no anxiety for her 
own future because after her retirement she had expected to be 
very happy in her daughter's home. After unusual success as a 
teacher, she retired at the age of seventy and continued to care 
for the sick aunt until the latter's death. Soon after that the 
daughter came for a visit and suddenly died. 

Somehow the woman had managed to put $100 in the bank for 
an emergency. She had no other savings and no inheritance. Her 



74 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

sole income was the $45 a month which she received as a pension. 
She could not afford to board with her landlady but had the privi- 
lege of cooking in the kitchen. "An old lady," she said, "needs 
very little to eat." But she was worried about what might happen 
if she should be ill. Her health was broken and all her hopes 
shattered, yet as a means of supplementing her tiny allowance 
and of occupying her still active mind, she has undertaken to 
teach eight hours a week at fifty cents per hour, in an industrial 
school. 

Many cases of senility were reflected in personal untidiness 
and wandering minds. We would not paint the picture too dark 
but these things stand out in the visitors' memories. 

Extent of Financial Independence 

Almost three-fourths of the teachers gave of their substance in 
caring for others, yet only a quarter of the number were in turn 
being cared for by relatives, friends, or charity. 1 In many in- 
stances those helping the teachers were not the ones who had been 
helped by them in the past. Of this seventy-five per cent who 
were living independently of help, over two-fifths were living en- 
tirely on their own resources and over one-half were sharing ex- 
penses with relatives, — usually sisters, — or with friends. 

These old-age associations revealed many lasting friendships, 
benefits returned, and beautiful family devotion, yet there were 
also instances of unappreciated help, betrayed confidences, bitter- 
ness, and dispositions too quarrelsome to be happy with others. 
Let one illustration of each suffice. 

Perhaps the best evidence of enduring friendship is the case of 
Miss H. When yet a girl and teaching, she lived with two girl 
cousins who also worked. The three decided to pool their earn- 
ings and to use their savings as they needed them, thus providing 
for the one who should live longest. There was a Mrs. W who was 
always mothering the girls and of whom they were very fond. The 
cousins decided that the last one of them living should will what- 
ever remained of their fund to the two sons of this Mrs. W. Two 

lTeachers supplementing their incomes by work, inheritance, or similar means were con- 
sidered financially independent. In some cases they were barely getting along but since they 
were accepting no help they were considered as self-supporting. Those sharing expenses with 
others, of course, were living more cheaply than they could have if alone. It was only be- 
cause of such an arrangement that some were able to be independent. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 75 

of the cousins died early in life leaving a fair amount of savings for 
the use of Miss H who continued teaching and made her home 
with Mrs. W. The years passed and at the woman's death Miss H 
went to live with one of the sons who opened his home to her. 
Besides her pension and the remainder of this pooled fund, she 
had the income from some mortgages and rents left her by Mrs. W . 
For years she paid from $10 to $15 a week to Mr. TV's family for 
her expenses. When found by the visitor, she was 90 years old, a 
beautiful little lady so frail that it seemed as if the breezes would 
waft her away. She was in a lovely sunny room with all the little 
things that she treasured. Too feeble to walk, she spends the 
hours in an invalid's chair and lives in the snatches of memory 
which are left to her. She is ever grateful for the kindness of these 
true friends. Though unknown to her, the pooled fund was 
exhausted sometime ago and this son of her old friend is 
supplementing her tiny pension in a way to fulfill all of her 
desires. 

A very pleasing case of benefits returned was that of a brother 
who was helped through school and into business by his sister, a 
teacher. When the father died and left a very substantial sum to 
be divided between the two children, the brother refused to take 
his share saying it would only pay in a small way for the timely 
assistance that the sister had given him so gladly. 

We described the homes of these women and have shown some 
of the causes of their poverty; let us consider for a moment the con- 
dition of the women themselves. Some were wonderfully active 
and well-preserved in mind and body, but there were those who 
were less fortunate. One woman was so crippled that she could 
scarcely hobble to the door to admit the visitor; another in the 
midst of the most deplorable circumstances was slowly dying of 
cancer; one was so deaf that the only means of communicating 
with her was by writing. Another was palsied and almost 
blind. 

One brave woman not yet bowed down by adversity, was visited 
in her one little room which still boasted a beautifully embroidered 
counterpane, a vestige of former prosperity. She was gowned in a 
black silk dress trimmed with jet spangles which plainly betrayed 
many makings over. She told us that she had not had a new gar- 



76 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

ment in seven years and that she did not know how she could get 
along if it were not that she had a knack at sewing so that she 
could fashion and refashion the clothing worn before her retire- 
ment. 

Of all those who have given much to their families, there is one 
particularly beautiful example of devotion to family life and ties. 
This woman might almost have been conducting an old people's 
home. When she was young an aunt assisted her in getting an 
education. At the time of this investigation, the aunt was nearing 
eighty and had little but her pension so that the main burden of 
supporting the home, fell, in turn, upon the teacher. When rela- 
tives of the aunt's generation became ill or unable to take care of 
themselves they drifted back to the old home. For eighteen years, 
two old ladies besides the aunt were partially supported. During 
one year a child was added to the household. For ten years an 
aged man was given a home to which he contributed little except 
his services in the care of the garden. Moreover, two other men 
and a fourth woman, unable to care for themselves, found shelter 
under this generous roof. In addition to all this the woman said, 
"We have had the usual cases where Aunt and I have had to help 
someone who had claims on us 'over the stile.' It either meant a 
new coat, a whole outfit for school, or a scholarship to business 
college." 

Among the many instances of lack of appreciation of benefits 
given at so great a cost to the struggling teacher, there stands out 
the case of the woman who, having sent four promising young 
people through college, was in need and yet received absolutely 
no help in return. 

Betrayed confidences were most common where sums of money 
generously loaned, — often without interest, — were never paid 
back. There were some, though a surprisingly small number, who 
were found to be embittered; notably among these was the woman 
who, having lost all faith in and love for humanity, expressed the 
desire that the entire white race might be "wiped out." And 
of course, unhappily, there were those unable to get along peace- 
ably with others. A pitiful and at the same time amusing instance 
of this was the case of two sisters who lived each in her own apart- 
ment, the one above the other. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 77 

Old or Young Companions 

The question as to whether these women desire associates of 
their own age or prefer younger companions can only be left open, 
for our data is insufficient to reach any conclusion. Some of these 
ex-teachers were found content to live alone or in institutions for 
the old, away from all young life. Others were constantly with 
young people, educating them, entertaining them, and living with 
them. The visitor will not soon forget that splendid woman who 
made her a guest at one of the Symphony Concerts, saying that 
these concerts were her one extravagance and that she always 
bought two season tickets in order that she might ask young 
people, in whom she was interested, to enjoy them with her. 
Another instance of this continued interest in youth is that of the 
woman who loved to conduct European tours for parties of her 
young girl friends. 

General Social Interests 

If any group of women should be interested in outside activities 
it is the teachers, for their careers have linked them with the life 
of the community. Let us see, then, if they maintain this interest 
after retirement. Of the 115 visited, 70 seemed to have had no 
outside interests, while 45 were active in the social life of their com- 
munities. At first glance this seems to show that a very small num- 
ber continued their social interests in old age. However, an analy- 
sis of the seventy somewhat explains the situation, for forty-two 
of this number were too feeble to do anything; nine were busy 
with other work such as a full-time government position, nursing 
the sick, or running a lodging house; and only nineteen actually 
having the time and strength for it were not actively interested in 
things aside from their homes. 

Of the 45 engaged in outside enterprises, 35 were interested in 
one or more of the following: clubs, churches, concerts, movies, 
lectures, and neighborhood schools. The remaining 11 (less than 
one-tenth of the whole) made club work their chief interest in life. 
One retired teacher was described by a friend as "belonging to 
about every club in the city." This woman is interested in the 
various settlement houses and particularly in negroes as her 
mother and father devoted the best part of their lives to the 



78 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

Abolitionist cause. Another woman finds time for housekeeping, 
gardening, sewing for her daughter and an orphans' home in 
Georgia, besides calling on shut-ins and helping in church work. 
Several of the teachers are members of the Women's City Club 
and of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union. One 
sweet little woman told the visitor, "If necessary skimp a bit 
yourself but keep interested in others and help them." At the 
time she was visited she was engaged in helping with the Assyrian 
relief work; was treasurer of a sewing circle in the church; was 
helping to educate young people in China, Assyria, and Alabama; 
was a member of the Y. W. C. A. and W. E. I. U., Speech Readers' 
Guild, Red Cross, Boston Teachers' School of Science; and was 
teaching in a Chinese Sunday school. Other women, lovers of 
the out-of-doors, were active members of the Appalachian, and 
Field and Forest Clubs. All of the investigators were struck by 
the generosity of these women. In several instances the field 
workers were mistaken for those soliciting for the Church or 
Red Cross or some other organization, and in practically every 
case, no matter how needy the teacher, she had a bit of money 
all ready to give for this or that cause. 

Part-Time Work 

It has been shown that the income of the large majority of re- 
tired teachers is pitifully small — only one-fifth of the 115 had an 
income of more than $700 — and that one-third (31.3 per cent) of 
the 115 were supplementing their pensions by whatever work they 
could find to do. Let us see just what ingenious plans these edu- 
cated women tried and found successful. Of the 115 teachers, 
less than a fourth did no work, nearly a half were doing unpaid 
work, and almost a third were receiving remuneration for their 
work. Table 20. Of those not working, 15 were physically incapable 
of it and 9 were strong enough but either were boarding or were 
living in homes sufficiently well off not to require their services. 
Of the 55 engaged in unpaid work, 42 were busy with housework, 
7 did light housekeeping, and 6 filled their time with club work of 
an important character. It is the third who were doing paid work 
that we wish particularly to consider here. The largest number, 
nine, were engaged in making fancy work, which term includes 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 79 

everything from crocheting and embroidering, to the finest sewing. 
Though one might suppose that a large number of women, hard 
pressed for money with which to buy the necessities of life, would 
turn naturally to housework as the easiest expedient, only 6 of 
the 115 were found to be thus engaged. To this number might be 
added, however, the four who kept roomers. One of these four 
also sold embroidery of her own making besides taking advantage 
of a novel plan for serving hot lunches to teachers. 

Some of these women seemed loath to give up their teaching. 
One gave lessons to abnormal children in their own homes, one 
did substituting whenever she was needed, and five were tutoring. 
Another woman, fond of reading and still blessed with good eye- 
sight, spent many pleasant and profitable hours reading to both 
those who were sick and those who were old. Charity organiza- 
tions offered employment to two others. This field of endeavor 
might well attract the teacher, for her work has given her an in- 
valuable approach to all types and classes of people and a deep in- 
sight into their characters, — both attributes being requisites of 
successful social workers. Two women, of artistic temperament, 
had found painting place-cards, Christmas greetings, and the like, a 
delightful way of increasing their incomes. Still another ex- 
teacher took pleasure in doing library assistant work. This is 
work that almost any teacher should be prepared to do. 

Preserve making was the method of earning money selected by 
one teacher. For several years she had made a regular business 
of it, preparing a great variety, using standard glasses and uni- 
form labels. The rows upon rows of neat little jars looked tempt- 
ing, to say the least, and the appearance of the woman, neat and 
attractive in her freshly starched white dress and apron, were all 
that were needed to convince one that her confections might well 
have a ready sale. 

Of those women who liked to and were able to be busy outside 
of their homes, there were two holding government positions. 
One of these, as she so delightfully described it, had "got the bee" 
for a job during the war when all were being urged to offer them- 
selves for service. She found her temporary position so pleasant 
and enjoyed earning money again so much that she determined 
to take the Civil Service Examination for a permanent place. 



80 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 



TABLE 20. OCCUPATIONS 1 OF RETIRED BOSTON WOMEN 

TEACHERS 



OCCUPATIONS 



Total, 
Paid Work: 



Teaching abnormal children, . 

Keeping house, 

Keeping roomers, 

Tutoring, 

Making fancy-work, 

Teaching as a substitute, .... 
Holding Civil Service positions, . 

Reading to others, 

Doing work for charitable organizations, 

Making preserves, 

Painting and drawing, . . 
Gardening and farming, .... 
Assisting in library, 

Unpaid Work: 



Keeping house, . 

Doing light housekeeping, 

Doing club work, . 



Not Working: 



Capable of work, 

Boarding, 

In homes having servants, 
Incapable of work, . 



Teachers 



Per Cent 



100. 

31.3 



47.8 



20.8 



ISome interesting occupations were found among women other than the 115 from whom 
schedules were secured. Such cases are those of a woman who had been serving as clerk in 
a bank for the last three and a half years, one who cared for children and elderly people, one 
who was a successful writer of children's stories, one who translated the Italian letters of a 
large exporting concern in Boston, and one who gardened and kept bees. 

20ne of the 4 also served lunches to teachers. 

30ne of the 8 did fine sewing and another gave painting lessons besides selling her embroid- 
eries. 

<One of these 2 besides being clerk in the TJ. S. Treasury Department at Washington, D. C. 
in order to supplement her savings, had been companion to a woman and taught English 
in a foreign legation at Washington. 



OLD-AGE SUPPOKT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 81 

This she did, and when visited by the investigator was most 
happy in her work as filing clerk. The substantial little sum that 
came so regularly added to her sense of financial security. The 
other teacher, engaged in a like occupation was a civil service em- 
ployee of the Treasury Department of Washington, D. C. Previ- 
ous to occupying herself with this work, she augmented her in- 
come by being companion to a lady in Washington and also by 
teaching English in one of the foreign legations. 

Though sufficient information for tabulation purposes was 
obtained from only 115 retired teachers, others gave delightful 
descriptions of the ways they had found of supplementing their 
savings. Of these, one had been a clerk in a bank for the last 
one and one-half years, while another was a successful writer of 
children's stories — surely a delightful occupation for one who loves 
children and enjoys pleasing them. Is it not peculiar that more 
teachers have not availed themselves of such work as this? Mem- 
bers of the teaching profession should rank high in literary ability. 
Still another of these women was being most successful in her 
gardening and bee-keeping. A fourth cared for children and older 
people while still another translated the Italian letters of a large 
Boston exporting concern. It will be seen, then, that variety in 
part-time occupations is not lacking. 

We have considered the various ways of supplementing incomes 
that have been successfully tried by retired teachers. Let us 
turn now for a survey of some further ideas that teachers still 
active hoped to make profitable after their retirement. One of 
these women wrote that she had a friend living in Colorado who 
owned a house and a five-acre ranch. This friend was a teacher 
and had to support her family. The Boston teacher planned to go 
West, help farm this little ranch, and share expenses with the 
friend. 

Another woman — remembered with great pleasure by the visi- 
tor — planned to retire in California. She had no relatives left 
and hence she wanted to be near the married god-daughter to 
whom she was very devoted. She expected to have a little bunga- 
low apartment all her own and, though handicapped by deafness, 
she did not anticipate being idle, for, as she so pleasingly said, 
"I adore children and always want to have them about me. Have 



82 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

you ever heard of one being professional grandmother? Well, 
that is what I am going to be. There are ever so many mothers 
who desire to go out now and then and who have a hard time 
finding responsible people with whom to leave their little ones. I 
hope to help such mothers and they in turn will be helping me. 
And then if I tire of that, or even in between times, I may play 
doctor to the wardrobes of busy professional women, sewing on 
buttons, darning stockings, and mending the rips. I should get 
plenty to keep me busy for I know how hard it has been for me to 
keep my clothes in repair while I have been teaching and I know 
that I am not the only working woman who has found it so. Then 
I still have a third job that I may revert to, that is, keeping books 
for the husband of my god-daughter. I can see no reason why 
women should have trouble in supplementing their incomes after 
retirement if they are the least bit adaptable and ingenious." 

Another gifted and active woman was preparing for the time 
when approaching deafness might cut short her teaching career. 
She was attending an evening law school in order to prepare her- 
self to earn her own and her mother's support as a lawyer. 

A letter from one of the teachers furnished a forceful and con- 
vincing statement of the desirability of having an avocation on 
which a teacher may rely for support or diversion when deprived 
of the interests which have absorbed her during the period of her 
active professional life. We can do no better than to quote 
passages from this letter. 

"Din it into the head of every teacher to have an avocation as 
well as a vocation. Urge teachers to develop an interest in some 
outside work which may grow into something remunerative later 
on. 'But, I have no time,' says the teacher, 'or strength.' Yes 
you have! Don't do so much church work, or social work, or 
don't entertain so much, or else cut out some of your concerts and 
study to be well-equipped along some secondary line. Are you 
fond of teaching drawing? Then take up draughting with a cor- 
respondence school. You'll enjoy it and every teacher should 
study some, you know. One teacher, a friend of mine, took up 
silversmithing for her play and when an accident kept her on 
crutches for over a year it was her salvation financially, and could 
-be again. My avocation is my garden. In Maine is a small, run- 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF "WOMEN TEACHERS 83 

down farm, cheaply purchased. There I have my own wood, and 
no water rates to pay. I keep a few hens and can raise $100 worth 
of vegetables yearly. Besides this I have nearly all the fruit that 
the five of us (she is supporting four old people) can use, for we 
have apples, peaches, pears, grapes, quinces, currants, and goose- 
berries. All of this considerably lightens my financial burden. 
Here with my pension and the bit more that is left after 'my 
family' is gone — well I don't need to worry about the future." 

The plans just given have been tried and found workable. 
Those who have been so generous in telling us of their avocations 
have done it in the hope that some other women might be helped 
thereby. Let us suggest that it is not only those in need of money 
who should have avocations but also those without tasks to keep 
them busy and happy. The following extract from a letter will 
illustrate the point; "I realize that the time of my retirement is 
drawing near and in the still small watches of the night when 
slumber sometimes refuses to be wooed I often wonder what the 
future has to offer to one deprived of the regular occupation of a 
lifetime and with no home ties demanding service. The outlook 
seems at times forlorn and sad. If, to quote from your circular, 
your workers can discover and offer 'ways of insuring an old age 
period of contentment or even of great happiness' to those whose 
need is such as mine, you will have become indeed benefactors to a 
large body of public servants, who because of their vocation have 
been deprived of family ties and in their last years may have to 
depend upon strangers for care and society." 

General Valuation of Old- Age Life of Teachers 

And now we come to the end. What is the general valuation 
of the old-age life of the teacher? Is this period of life worth living 
for and looking forward to? 

Of the 115, almost three-fourths appeared to be happy while 
about a quarter of the number were discontented, bitter, or sad. 
Most of those who were working were much happier than if they 
had been idle. Those who had shouldered the most burdens and 
cared for dependents were almost invariably the sweetest and most 
lovable in their old age. Some in their poverty and sickness had 
been embittered but there were many others bearing their adver- 



84 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

sity with smiles. One woman particularly is to be thought of in 
this connection. With mind bright and active she was unable to 
leave an invalid's chair. With her own savings used up in the 
care of those once dependent upon her, she had lived to see the 
day when she was absolutely dependent upon her younger sister 
who cared for her, tried to do the housework, and taught at the 
same time. When the visitor spoke of her brave little smile, the 
woman hastened to say, "Why, my sister has almost more than 
she can bear already, why should I add to her burden by being 
sour and disagreeable or even sad?" Then there are those who 
are in that blissful stage of senility where all seems right and 
happy to them. These are indeed to be envied above those who 
can see but the dreary side of things. And lastly, there are those 
upon whom fortune has smiled, those who have loved ones about 
them, homes of comfort, and hopes realized — those who have "a 
wee home where they may have sunshine and sunset, an apple 
tree, a piazza, and some pleasant neighbors." 



CHAPTER V 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION BY CO-OPERATING 
INVESTIGATORS 

INTRODUCTION 

The experiences of a group of trained American women who are 
seeking means of adjustment to new social and economic condi- 
tions have been presented in the previous chapters of this report. 
Many terse statements gathered in personal interviews or by 
correspondence prove that, for the past thirty years, the more 
thoughtful Massachusetts teachers have been feeling their way 
towards a solution of the difficult problems which confront self- 
supporting women after their retirement from active service. 
The celibate women of past centuries did not assume this individual 
responsibility for making provision for the period of old-age in- 
capacity. Many of them were members of religious communities 
whose carefully enforced disciplines prescribed the details of daily 
living. A peaceful and protected old age, hallowed by the religious 
associations of a life time, usually could be expected. Other un- 
married women continued to share the activities of the large 
family groups which were the economic units of society before the 
Industrial Revolution. Fathers or brothers directed the produc- 
tive activities of the household and represented the family in busi- 
ness transactions. There was little encouragement for feminine 
independence or initiative, but all responsible men felt the obliga- 
tion to give care and protection to the females of their households. 
These traditional family relations are weakened or destroyed 
when there have been many years of separation during which the 
women have not rendered services to or received assistance from 
their male relatives. Individual contracts for services and eco- 
nomic independence inevitably lead to personal responsibility for 
complete self-support, and new social as well as economic adjust- 
ments are necessary when a woman reaches old age without an 
established position in a family group. The Massachusetts 



86 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OP WOMEN TEACHERS 

teachers have been pioneers in the search for means of dealing with 
these new conditions, so that a pooling of their experiences results 
in a composite picture which will give definite content to the 
questions which we are presenting for discussion by co-operating 
groups. 

Contributions to the final report dealing with conditions 
throughout the United States may take three forms: 1 

(1) Information showing the extent to which the experiences 
of Massachusetts teachers are typical of those of teachers 
in other parts of the United States. 

(2) Data similar to those presented in this report dealing with 
the experiences of women who support themselves by 
vocations other than teaching. 

(3) Discussions of the validity of the tentative generalizations 
suggested in this report. 

EXTENT OF THE NEED FOR OLD-AGE PROVISION 

What proportion of the teachers or of other groups of gainfully 
employed women devote their lives to their vocations and depend on 
their own exertions for means of support after retirement from active 
services? Ten per cent of the Massachusetts teachers have been 
in the schools for 30 years or over. No doubt this proportion at 
least will devote their lives to their profession and must gain 
from it the larger portion of their support after retirement. The 
need is equally urgent for many of those with shorter terms of 
service. A recent study of reasons for leaving employment in the 
Massachusetts schools shows that the proportion (37.4 per cent) 
who expect to support themselves by work in other vocations or 
by teaching in other states is slightly greater than that of those 
who leave in order to marry (36.3 per cent). 2 

If conditions in Massachusetts are typical of what is found in 
other portions of the country, there will be a certain proportion of 
the teachers and of other self-supporting women who must depend 
chiefly or entirely on their own thrift and foresight for the means of 
insuring a care-free old age. This will require an early facing of 
the need of providing maintenance during a more or less lengthy 

lMore details about the assistance desired are given on pages 4-5. 
*Report of the Special Commission on Teachers' Salaries, 12. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 87 

period of old age incapacity. But the development of such con- 
sistent plans of saving is retarded by the fact that, for many years 
there is a strong undercurrent of instinctive emotions which 
prompts the majority of these women to expect the normal family 
experiences of wives and mothers. Comparatively few commit 
themselves fully and promptly to the celibate life of social service 
which our statistical studies lead us to predict for about half of 
our highly trained American women, and even these are susceptible 
to influences which may lead to an early abandonment of well- 
laid plans. 

Would it be reasonable to maintain that, during the period of gainful 
employment, a self-supporting woman should make the portion of 
her old-age provision which a well planned life would assign to those 
years? When the gainful employment is abandoned in order to 
become a wife and mother, good use can be made of such thrifty 
accumulations. They may be added to the capital which is assist- 
ing in the production of the family income, they may make pos- 
sible the purchase of a home, or they may be retained to meet a 
portion of the needs of old age. When a woman marries after some 
years of professional activity, it usually implies that her husband 
will have a shortened period in which to accumulate savings. 
The wife has served her vocation rather than the family during 
her earlier years, and some reapportionment of economic obliga- 
tions seems just. If we grant the validity of this argument, then 
the questions suggested by this study of the experiences of Massa- 
chusetts teachers should be of interest to all self-supporting 
women. 

EXTENT OF THE CARE OF DEPENDENTS 

Gainfully employed women as well as men recognize social 
claims on their earnings which are superior to those of pro- 
vision for old-age incapacity. Chart IV. Money required for 
the immediate needs of members of the family or household 
cannot be withheld easily in order to make secure the future of the 
individual. The results of the present study and of a recent Eng- 
lish investigation indicate that the assistance given dependents 
fluctuates with the earning capacity of the women. During earlier 
years when little more is earned than what is required for bare self- 



88 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

support, but few women contribute to the maintenance of others, 
but the increased earning capacity of maturity enables a high pro- 
portion of the gainfully employed women to assume responsibility 
for the care of their natural dependents. Assistance was given to 
dependents by 37 per cent of the active Massachusetts teachers 
when they were 20-29 years old, but over half (52.2 per cent) of 
them made such contributions when they were at the height of 
their earning capacity between 40 and 50 years of age. Tables 24 
and 19. The English study dealt with women whose earnings per- 
mitted less assistance to dependents, but the same tendencies are 
shown, as 7.4 per cent of the wage-earners of 18-20 assisted depen- 
dents while 28 per cent of those 36-40 years old cared for others. 1 

The findings of these two studies suggest interesting questions 
about the probable future social and economic relations of gain- 
fully employed women. Is it probable that the unmarried women 
of the family will accept an increasing burden of responsibility for 
the care of its dependents? The women of the United States are 
rapidly approaching complete equality with men in opportunities 
for training and for the profitable use of their talents. In fact, 
females avail themselves more fully of public educational agencies 
than males, as they are in the majority in the public secondary 
schools and are approaching equal representation in the state uni- 
versities. They are still somewhat handicapped in finding varied 
forms of gainful employment, and rarely are compensated for 
their services at the same rates as men, but with the development 
of greater political power, these disabilities gradually may be over- 
come. 

7s it just and desirable that equality in economic responsibilities 
accompany equality in opportunities for gainful employment? This 
would mean not merely that women would become responsible for 
complete self-support, but that they also would give necessary 
care to natural dependents. The probability that business and 
professional women will make this complete social return for the 
privileges which they win is suggested by the experiences of the 
Massachusetts teachers. If we assume that the conditions in older 
Eastern communities are typical of what may develop elsewhere in 

lRowntree, B. S., and Stuart, F. D., The Reponsibility of Women Workers for Dependents, 
p. 19, Table IV. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 89 

the United States, then we may expect that in the future there 
will be many families in which the unmarried daughters will con- 
tinue to live in the homes of their childhood and will become the 
chief supports of their aged parents. Their brothers or sisters will 
marry and devote themselves to the rearing of the next genera- 
tion. When members of the family are overtaken by misfortunes 
there will be an instinctive tendency to turn for assistance to the 
remnant of the older family group. Thus we find the Massachu- 
setts teachers giving entire or partial support to mothers, sisters, 
nieces, nephews, brothers and fathers. Table 19. The motherly 
impulse to care for others was so strongly developed in some of 
these noble women that they voluntarily assumed responsibility 
for the support of unrelated aged or younger persons. 

Granting that such increased social responsibility will be as- 
sumed by women who from choice or necessity remain unmarried, 
is it true that such altruistic services may assist in counteracting 
social and personal evils which are beginning to show themselves in 
modern highly developed communities? The city apartment, unlike 
the farm of pioneer days, does not lend itself readily to the care of 
dependents. The immediate family often is overcrowded, and old 
people find it hard to live in such close proximity to growing chil- 
dren. With greater pressure of economic conditions, a man needs 
all his resources to house, nourish and educate a small family. 
Even in the United States, the population is rapidly outgrowing 
the food supply. When these conditions reach their full develop- 
ment in overcrowded China, the female infants often are killed 
at birth. A better way of dealing with such a situation might be 
a systematic effort to give them every advantage of nurture and 
training so that they would become productive members of society, 
capable of relieving the fathers of the next generation of the care of 
their dependents of the past generation. 

Over a hundred self-supporting business women who were living 
outside of family groups were visited by investigators from our 
Research Department in 1916. Many of these women had lived 
for 10 to 15 years without intimate personal ties to enlist their 
interests. The danger, under such circumstances, of developing a 
self-centered, or even somewhat crotchety, character was apparent 
to all those who assisted with the interviews. Quite a different 



90 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

impression was made by the older teachers, many of whom had 
shown an incredible amount of unselfish devotion to their families 
or others in need of assistance. Again and again the visitors in 
reporting the interviews of the day, expressed their warm admira- 
tion for the well-poised, lovable characters of these older Boston 
teachers. Their genuine affection for their pupils and frequent ex- 
pressions of loyalty to their profession made it evident that they 
had found worthy outlets for their social impulses. The increasing 
numbers of sensitive, highly trained, American women who must 
forfeit the personal development which may accompany the 
gratification of their instinctive emotions, may find other ways of 
expressing their altruistic impulses which will be equally produc- 
tive of strong and lovable personalities. 

Conceding for the sake of our argument that teachers and other 
professional women will contribute to the support of dependents, 
and that the social and personal advantages of such assistance 
make probable its increase in the future, how will these altruistic 
services affect the ability of the women to make necessary provision for 
old age incapacity f There is danger that this may bear an inverse 
relationship to their needs. Thus the self-supporting woman 
burdened with dependents rarely is sought in marriage and the 
urgency of the needs of those whom she assists often is a measure of 
the lack of family resources to which the woman may look for fu- 
ture protection. Support is given most frequently to mothers 
and sisters. Persons giving assistance to dependents of their own 
or of the preceding generation cannot receive the return in old age 
which may be expected by those who establish claims on the coming 
generation. Thus the old age hazards of unmarried women who 
devote their lives to professional or business services, and who carry 
the family burdens which they may assume to an increasing extent 
are greater than those of the men and women who marry and 
raise children. Hence the peculiar need of self-supporting women 
for some form of old-age insurance which will provide a minimum 
subsistence income during the period after retirement from gainful 
employment. 

OLD-AGE INSURANCE 

The teachers, in whose ranks are found two-thirds of the trained 
or professional female workers of the United States, have been 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 91 

the first of our self-supporting women to discover and provide for 
this need. Studensky describes 22 state and 72 local teachers' 
pension systems which were in operation in 1917. 1 The salient 
features of the history of the teachers' pension systems of Massa- 
chusetts can be duplicated wherever efforts have been made to 
establish systems of old-age insurance. The failure to base the 
pensions on sound actuarial calculations, the breakdown of volun- 
tary insurance, the necessity for compulsion in order to gain 
stability for the system and to enforce the insurance of those whose 
needs will be greatest, and the superior flexibility of contributory 
pensions are all points which have been demonstrated frequently 
in the experiences of fraternal societies and in the histories of 
national systems of industrial insurance. 

There can be little doubt but that the teachers interviewed in 
the course of the present investigation had more thrift and fore- 
sight than the average gainfully employed woman, yet they 
showed a striking inability to accumulate savings for their old-age 
support. Table 14. In many cases this was due to a generous 
response to the needs of relatives, in others there was a failure of 
foresight and self-control, and some women showed a childlike 
disposition to shift upon Providence all responsibility for their 
future support. It is true also that many of the older teachers 
worked during the earlier years of their professional careers for in- 
credibly low salaries. The compulsory, contributory pension sys- 
tem established for the state teachers in 1914 frees a part of the 
salary from the demands of relatives, forces the teacher to save a 
portion of her earnings, and makes necessary a subsistence income 
in addition to the reserve held for future needs. Have the teachers 
obtained an old-age protection for which there may be even greater 
need in other classes of gainfully employed women? 

Sound standards for such future systems of old-age insurance 
may be established by the help of the experiences of the teachers. 
It is hoped that our co-operating investigators will gather in- 
formation which will give abundant evidence on which to base 
the final discussion of the topics which are being debated by 
Massachusetts teachers. 

lStudensky, Paul, Teachers' Pension Systems in the United States. 



92 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

The following questions should receive consideration: 

(1) 7s a contributory pension system like that established for the 
Massachusetts teachers outside of Boston a sounder old-age pro- 
vision than the gift pension provided by the city of Boston? 

(2) Should the pension system established by law provide a uni- 
form old-age income or should the amounts paid vary with the salaries 
earned before retirement from active service? 

(3) How can aged pensioners be protected from losses in the 
purchasing power of their pensions? 

(4) 7s it desirable that the old-age protection be supplemented 
by insurance covering invalidity? 

It is argued that a gift pension may be repudiated at any time 
because it has become an intolerable burden to the taxpayers. 
Teachers are not subject to the peculiar hazards of firemen or 
policemen and they far outnumber other public employees. There 
are differences of opinion about the purpose and meaning of the 
old-age pensions. Some assert that they are granted in order to 
make possible the retirement of teachers whose age threatens the 
efficiency of the schools, and others claim that they are deferred 
payments of salaries which are given in order to retain the services 
of experienced teachers. Those who take the latter view insist 
that pensions should be proportional to the salaries earned before 
retirement. On the other hand, those who regard the pension 
chiefly as a means of protecting a faithful public servant from old- 
age suffering insist that teachers with high salaries are better able 
to provide for themselves and should not receive a larger pension 
than that of associates whose incomes have been smaller. These 
disputes are avoided when the pension is purchased by contribu- 
tions apportioned to the amounts of the salaries, as there is an 
automatic adjustment to variations in income. 

The retired teachers, in common with many other persons who 
depend on fixed incomes, are suffering seriously from the losses in 
purchasing power of money. Thus over half of the state teachers 
receive pensions of only $300. Table 31. With strict economy an 
aged woman might have subsisted on this sum in a rural com- 
munity during the period before the war, but it is quite inadequate 
since the changes in the cost of living. Should teachers unite with 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 93 

others in promoting efforts to devise means of stabilizing the pur- 
chasing power of money? 1 

A small invalidity pension is paid by the Boston Teachers' 
Retirement Fund. Should such insurance be a feature of the sys- 
tems devised for old-age protection or would it be better to separate 
completely the two forms of insurance? 

SAVINGS AND THEIR INVESTMENT 
Carefully invested savings must be the chief resource of teachers 
who wish a comfortable, care-free, old age. Compulsory or pub- 
licly supported pension or insurance systems have undertaken to 
supply only a bare subsistence income. Half of those which have 
been established in the United States provide for maximum an- 
nual payments of $500 or less. 2 The provisions of the Massachu- 
setts law are such as to make possible a maximum pension of $1500 
which is one of the highest granted by any state or city system, 
but as we have seen, over half of its women beneficiaries are re- 
ceiving the minimum allowance of $300. Table 31. This was in- 
creased to $400 in 1920, but the law is not retroactive. Incomes 
from savings or profitable old-age avocations must supplement 
these pensions if the teachers are to escape the discomfort which 
must result from lowered standards of living. 

Great personal variations in ability or inclination to save were 
revealed by this investigation of the experiences of the Massachu- 
setts teachers. A few confessed to weak resignation or childlike 
improvidence. "I gave up trying to provide for my old age years 
ago, and that too though I had no dependents to support," wrote 
one. Another who will retire in a few months at the age of seventy 
and who must learn to live on one-third of what she has spent in 
the past writes, "I have lived a very improvident life. I have 
taken each day and its duty or burden or pleasure and paid my 
way and looked out for all who needed me. I have taken almost 
no thought for the morrow. * * * I can live on the pension 
and annuity fund because I know how to 'be abased as well as 
how to abound.' I have no fears for the future. I live for today 
and get and give all the fun I can." Women of these types were 

Hrving Fisher's plans set forth in his book, "Stabilizing the Dollar," might be considered by 
those interested in this subject. 
2Studensky, Paul, Teachers' Pension Systems in the United States, 296-306. 



94 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

not largely represented in our sample groups, but it is possible that 
they are more numerous in the entire body of teachers, as others 
may have been less frank in confessing their inability to meet the 
responsibilities of mature life. There would be a natural tendency 
for completer returns from the women who had given thought and 
effort to the subject of the inquiry. The higher proportion of 
active teachers who have savings suggests also a growing realiza- 
tion of the necessity for the cultivation of thrift. Bo compulsory 
contributions to a pension giving minimum old-age support assist in 
keeping before the teachers the need for further provision for old age? 

Numerous records of the triumph of foresight and self-denial 
over adverse circumstances furnish stimulating examples of what 
may be accomplished by careful planning and persistent effort. 
We will add a few illustrations to those which have been presented 
in previous chapters. One teacher, orphaned in her childhood, 
had supported herself since she was 16 years old. She did house- 
work to pay expenses while in the high school, and began teaching 
with a salary of $231. She writes, "Every year I set aside a cer- 
tain amount after allowing for living expenses." She expects to 
retire at 60 with savings amounting to about $8000. Another 
report of persistent thrift reads, "I put into the savings bank $50 
out of my first salary of $500, and I have saved approximately 
ten to twenty per cent of my earnings each year since, and rein- 
vested my income, so that I now have about $20,000 * * *." 
One remarkable woman who bore heavy family responsibilities 
until she was 45 years old, then gave herself a college education, 
and is now accumulating funds for support after retirement, ad- 
vises, "Save a little every month, no matter how heavy your 
expenses. Economize on clothes and amusements, carfares and 
lunches." Analysis of these and similar statements from the 
teachers who were successful in accumulating substantial sums 
proves that, even with modest salaries, savings for old-age support 
may be made possible by a systematic cultivation of thrifty 
habits during a number of years. 

When should the teacher begin setting aside these savings for her 
old-age support? Miss Strong concludes from her study of Massa- 
chusetts teachers that "the usual way for the teachers is to care 
for those dependent on them, improve themselves by education 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHEES 95 

and travel, advance to their maximum salary and then provide for 
their old age." However, such a program is not so simple as it 
sounds, because it is difficult for a teacher to determine when she 
has reached the place where further investments in professional 
training will not justify themselves by increases in salary, and there 
are many who wish to continue their studies for the sake of the per- 
sonal pleasure and development which they bring. 

The increased difficulty of making provision for old age when 
saving for this purpose is deferred until late in life is shown by the 
variations in charges for old-age pensions sold by insurance com- 
panies. The cost of furnishing such a pension is determined by 
elaborate actuarial calculations which estimate the probabilities 
of survival of the beneficiary and the earnings of premiums when 
conservatively invested. We will assume that the Massachusetts 
teacher wishes to purchase a pension of $600. This sum added to 
the state minimum of $400 or the Boston pension of $600 would 
give the income necessary for the support of the retired teacher. 
The rates charged by the Massachusetts State Savings Bank 
Insurance are typical of those of the more reliable insurance com- 
panies. In order to purchase a pension of $600 beginning at the 
age of 65, monthly payments must be made of $5.10 from the age of 
25, $8.70 from 35, of $16.86 if they do not begin until 45. If the 
pension begins at 60, the payments will be $8.28 at 25, $14.76 at 
35, and 31.26 at $45. These figures represent the minimum cost 
protection for old age which is made possible by the fact that some 
of the persons who have paid for pensions die before receiving any 
returns for the premiums invested. The same pension beginning 
at the age of 60 combined with insurance for $750 would require 
monthly premiums of $8.97 if payments began at 25, $15.57 at 35, 
and $32.34 at 45. Thus the amounts which must be saved double 
with each ten years of delay in beginning the payments. 

Should the type of work selected be a factor in determining when 
a teacher should begin systematic saving for her old-age support? 
Those who feel satisfied with positions in the elementary schools 
which usually require shorter periods of training might begin 
setting aside savings for the period after retirement when they are 
between 20 and 30, while those preferring positions requiring more 
preparation could defer the making of old-age provision until they 



96 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

are 30 or over. It seems unwise to postpone all saving for old age 
until it becomes an imperative necessity which forbids the indul- 
gence in recreational and cultural opportunities needed to give 
value to the teacher's life. 

High courage and self-confidence are required by those women 
who, as one teacher expressed it, "venture to speculate on them- 
selves" by borrowing money or by spending all their savings for 
many years in order to fit themselves for supervisory positions or 
for more scholarly work. The opportunities for women to make 
use of higher training are limited and the salaries in college posi- 
tions open to them frequently are less than those of good high 
schools. Fortunately for the cause of the enlargement of the pro- 
fessional outlook of women, there always will be courageous and 
gifted pioneers who will take chances and make financial sacrifices 
in order to claim the right to make use of their talents. 1 Such 
women must work out individual solutions for their problems of 
old-age protection, or must accept with fortitude the consequences 
of the course which they have chosen. 

What are the forms of investment found most satisfactory for 
teachers in different parts of the country? Is the conservatism of 
the Massachusetts teachers a typical characteristic of self-supporting 
women? Savings banks for small sums which should be available 
for emergencies, endowment insurance policies which mature when 
the woman is between 50 and 60 years of age, and furnish funds for 
investment in annuities, 2 shares in co-operative banks which are 
safe and yet give a high rate of interest, and Liberty bonds, are all 
investments which involve no risk. 

The rapid depreciation in value of the modest incomes yielded 
by the painfully gathered and carefully invested funds of the 
Massachusetts teachers raises the question of whether real estate 
gives greater safety in old age than annuities or other fixed in- 
comes from reliable securities. Less than 10 per cent of the Massa- 
chusetts teachers reported such investments. One teacher ex- 
pressed the objections to such use of savings : "Real estate owner- 

lWe have not collected schedules from women teachers in colleges but extensive and varied 
personal observations indicate that they may experience greater difficulty in making provision 
for their old age than the public school teachers for whom modest pensions frequently are pro- 
vided by law. 

2A study of the extent to which women make use of commercial insurance agencies has been 
made in our Research Department. Its results will be published at a later date. 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF "WOMEN TEACHERS 97 

ship as I have found it ties you down so. You can't travel, for it 
constantly calls for expenditures hard to meet. It keeps you 
property poor." Another who has cared for 3 to 5 dependents, 
found the purchase of a two-family house an effective means of 
meeting difficult financial problems. She rents one apartment 
and 3 rooms of the other in which she lives. She reports, "It is 
a hard proposition and represents great self-denial but it is the 
only way I can see to provide for my old age and that of my sister 
who is the only one now left." Several teachers look forward to 
providing themselves rural or village homes for use after retire- 
ment. One writes, "I have bought land in a pleasant town about 
20 miles from Boston, shall build a house, adopt a boy, keep hens, 
and raise strawberries. A thrifty Scotch woman says, "I hope to 
buy a modest house to retire to in some country village. There I 
hope to engage in the village activities and improvements and be 
able to live with my sister on my pension and interest without 
worry." 7s it desirable that teachers should endeavor to gratify 
before the time of retirement this longing for a home? In view of the 
danger of the decline in the purchasing power of money, would her old- 
age provision be rendered more secure by a division of her assets be- 
tween real estate and other investments yielding a money income? 

CO-OPERATION FOR OLD-AGE PROTECTION 

The present study yielded but slight evidence of co-operation in 
making provision for old age. Instances of friends and relatives 
who were able to lessen living expenses by keeping house together 
and one case of a joint fund for old-age protection suggest the ad- 
vantages of a combination of resources. A co-operative enter- 
prise undertaken by two Ohio teachers might be carried out on a 
larger scale. They purchased a small farm to which they are de- 
voting their energies during summer vacations. When this prop- 
erty is developed, it will afford pleasant and profitable outings 
during the period of active professional life and will supply a home 
and a modest income after retirement. A group of teachers who 
are fond of rural life might make a great success of such an under- 
taking. This would be a country club with practical as well as 
recreational features. Fruit and bees easily could be cared for by 
such a group of women, and modern power cultivators make pos- 



98 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

sible other crops. The long summer vacations and freedom on 
Saturdays give teachers an advantage over business women in 
carrying out such plans. 

Would it be desirable that the teachers of city school systems establish 
homes for aged teachers? Medical care, nursing and other services 
needed by the aged could be supplied at minimum cost in such 
homes. With careful management it might be possible to give 
care without a greater charge than could be met by the legally 
established pension. The objections to old ladies' homes raised 
by one teacher might be less if all the guests were retired teachers. 
She writes, "I have met good women living in old ladies' homes 
who were so garrulous because of uncultivated minds, often enter- 
taining no constructive thoughts, that they wearied me, and I 
should be unhappy living with them." 

THE TEACHER'S NEED OF AN AVOCATION 
The greater longevity of women and their superior mental and 
physical vigor during old age have been shown frequently in 
statistics dealing with characteristics of the aged. It is true also 
that teachers like preachers are above the average in their ages of 
survival. When teachers' pension systems are established, usually 
a compulsory age of retirement is fixed. This is a sound policy 
since only in exceptional cases would it be desirable to retain in the 
schoolrooms teachers over 70 years of age. Yet there are many 
women who are vigorous and active until they are 10 to 15 years 
older. Teachers and other professional women who have devoted 
their lives to worthy services cannot retire to the vacuous round of 
the elderly women found in many boarding houses and family 
hotels. Worthy channels must be provided into which they may 
direct their lessened energies. Hence the need of an avocation, 
which could be cultivated as a diversion while in active service, 
and would supply an interest or even an income during the period 
after retirement. What avocations suitable for old age have been 
discovered by retired teachers or older professional women living in 
other states? We particularly desire reports on this subject from 
our co-operating investigators. 

The fine arts are acknowledged to be the means of supplying 
cultured persons with the most worthy and absorbing recreational 



OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 99 

interests. Teachers who have literary, artistic or musical ability- 
should be careful to continue the cultivation of these talents, as 
they furnish forms of enjoyment which will give greater value to 
the period after retirement. Such interests retain their hold until 
late in life. Indeed, creative ability in these fields is not uncommon 
in persons who are beyond the ages when teachers retire from their 
schoolrooms. 

Various forms of social service have been noticed in Miss 
Proctor's account of the old-age experiences of Massachusetts 
teachers. Such altruistic activities seem peculiarly suitable for 
women with the thorough knowledge of human nature which must 
be acquired by experienced teachers. One Boston teacher furnishes 
an attractive example of deliberate preparation for such work. 
Realizing that many towns have libraries which are too small and 
poor to employ efficient librarians, she plans to prepare herself to 
give trained services for a modest compensation. She is taking 
courses given in summer sessions of colleges in order to prepare 
herself for the finest type of library service. When she decides on 
her field of work, she will buy a home and endeavor to become a 
helpful influence in the community. Similar training could be 
procured for other forms of social service which might serve as 
avocations during the active period and supply more absorbing 
interests after retirement. 

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL ADJUSTMENTS 
The present study deals primarily with the economic needs of 
women who have been self-supporting throughout life, but social 
and personal adjustments are as imperative as economic if a 
happy old age is to be insured. The women who reported their 
experiences are representative of a rapidly increasing group who 
are like the worker bees in that they devote themselves to the serv- 
ice of society rather than to its continuance. Sanctions must be 
discovered which will give beauty and value to the forms of per- 
sonal development which are possible in such fives. We are in 
need of a new literature which will assist these women to a refocus- 
ing of their emotions. Many go through life with a consciousness 
of defeat because of their inability to adjust their enthusiasms to 
the realities of daily living. In this age of marvelous enrichment 



100 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

of the lives of women, substitutes may be discovered for the time- 
honored satisfactions of the grandmothers of the past. Descrip- 
tions of happy personal and social adjustments during old age will 
be of great value for our final report, as they may prove suggestive 
to the women who have not discovered a road to the peace and 
serenity which should reward lives devoted to worthy services. 



APPENDIX 



CARE OF OLDER WOMEN EMPLOYEES BY BOSTON 
RETAIL STORES 1 

By Sarah Louise Proctor 

Eighteen large and long-established retail dry goods and clothing 
stores were visited in order to discover what proportion of the 
female employees continued their services until overtaken by the 
incapacity of old age, and to discuss with the store managers the 
policies which they have adopted in dealing with older women 
workers. 

It was discovered that a comparatively small proportion of 
these older women had service records which would establish 
strong claims on their employers. Only one in ten (9.9 per cent) 
of the 4190 women for whom data were available had been with the 
firms where they were found employed for ten or more consecutive 
years. Elderly women who had spent their wage-earning lives be- 
hind the counters of Boston stores were found, 2 but their periods of 
service were distributed in such a way that no strong claims for 
old-age pensions were established with the firms where they were 
employed. Typical cases will illustrate the situation: Miss M 
had been with one store for 21 years, with another for 6 years, and 
but 2 years with the company whose records were examined. Mrs. 
K had worked 26 years in one store and but 7 years for her present 
employer. An interview with a third woman still active but near- 
ing eighty, revealed a similar situation. She had been saleswoman 
and buyer for over thirty-six years, spending twenty-five years of 
that time with one firm, but had held her present position for 
only three years. In point of service, she would be entitled to 
little consideration from her employer though the time was not 
far distant when she would be forced to retire. However, store 
managers recognize that, with the development of more stable 
groups of workers, definite policies for assisting older employees 
should be formulated. The accounts of their efforts to meet in- 

lThis is a summary of Miss Proctor's report of her study of the policies of Boston retail 
stores in dealing with older female employees. — Lucile Eaves. 
2Four of these women had worked in retail stores 48 to 50 years. 



104 APPENDIX 

dividual needs show clearly the transition from the desultory- 
charitable aid of the past to established pension systems giving 
recognized claims. A summary of these statements shows that 
six of the stores aided their older women with gifts of money 
when very trying situations arose. Five firms had some form of 
pensioning; one of this number had a fixed policy adopted in 1920, 
while two others were seriously considering pension plans. Six 
employers had made consistent efforts to shift their older women 
employees into easier jobs, while five covered their activities 
along these lines by the insistent statement, "We care for our 
women." Nine firms let their older women come in for shorter 
hours, for which all but one paid full wages. 

Gifts of Money 

Charitable donations to older employees took different forms 
in the various stores. Five of the firms made such gifts in cases of 
sickness and accidents, and one of these also made a grant of 
money when laying off those who had become inefficient because 
of age. Thus a woman who had been with the store for about 
fifteen years, but who had become lax in selling and was known 
to be financially well off, was given $300 and dismissed in as kindly 
a way as possible. A woman dismissed or quitting after about 
five years of satisfactory service usually was given two to three 
weeks' wages, while one who had worked in the store for ten years 
was given approximately $100. There were no fixed scales for the 
gifts of money: such matters were private and personal, and de- 
pendent entirely on the judgment or good will of the store officials. 

Pensions for Store Workers 

The one formal pension system in use has the following main 
provisions : Women are eligible for pensions upon becoming sixty 
years of age and incapacitated for work. It is necessary for them 
to have served the company for at least ten continuous years im- 
mediately prior to becoming sixty years of age. The employee is 
required to make written application for the pension, giving the 
nature of her incapacity and a statement as to her financial re- 
sources. When this statement has been verified by the Superin- 
tendent, the application is sent to the President, who is required to 



APPENDIX! 105 

act upon it within thirty days. The pensions are computed in the 
following way: The yearly pension is a sum equal to 3 per cent 
of the average annual salary, for the 10 years immediately preced- 
ing the date of making application, multiplied by the number of 
years of service of the applicant, providing this average annual 
salary amounts to $20 or less weekly. If it amounts to more than 
$20 weekly, the yearly pension is a sum equal to 2 per cent of the 
average annual salary multiplied by the number of years of service, 
excepting that in no event shall a pension exceed 90 per cent of the 
salary of the applicant prior to her filing an application. The 
President can, upon his own volition, place anyone upon the 
pension rolls. This provision makes it possible for a person to re- 
ceive a pension even though she has not worked in the store for 
ten years. At the time of the survey, this firm had no women 
upon its pension rolls although several were eligible to make 
application. Those who were eligible were described as "active, 
valuable employees who would resent any suggestion of their 
being pensioned." This pension system was adopted at the in- 
stigation of the employees. The company was proud of it, but to 
quote one of the executives, "We use it with discretion since we 
believe that men and women who have spent the greater part of 
their lives in the store are happier continuing in their work. When- 
ever possible we give them a lighter job and let them come in for 
shorter hours as long as they are strong enough. Many of them, if 
deprived of their work and taken away from the constant contact 
with people which store life affords, would feel that they were old 
and had been 'laid on the shelf'. They know that the pension is 
available and that they may apply for it. We want to see them 
contented and happy, not ill and dissatisfied." 

Two other firms, feeling that they had been in business long 
enough to have older employees whose faithful services deserved 
recognition, were considering plans for definite pension systems. 

Gift pensions were enjoyed by a few women whose employers 
appreciated their years of faithful services. The head of one firm 
had died and provided in his will that the two women in the store 
who had been there practically since its opening, should receive 
fifteen dollars a week each, so long as they lived and remained 
unmarried. At the time of this survey, these two women, though 



106 APPENDIX 

pensioned, were still selling in the store and bade fair to be actively 
and happily engaged for some years to come. One of these had 
been with the firm over fifty years. Another store had the gen- 
erous record of five women who had been granted pensions equal 
to their full pay. Two of these women had died in old ladies' 
homes, one was living in such a home, and a fourth was on the wait- 
ing list for admission. All of them entered institutions because 
they were alone in the world and because they wished the com- 
panionship of persons of their own age and the continuous care 
given by the homes. One of these women pensioned on full pay 
after fifty years of service in the store, constantly begged to be 
allowed to resume her work. Without it she was lonely and un- 
happy. The company finally consented, but she was not strong 
enough to render efficient service. A serious illness and a fall 
made necessary a second retirement. On recovery she cherished 
the vain hope that she might return again to her work. She was 
often visited by the other employees in the store who fondly re- 
ferred to her as "grandmother." 

Lightening the Work of Older Women Employees 

Eight of the eighteen stores arranged a shorter work day for 
their older women without reduction in wages, and one less gen- 
erous firm shortened the work day but paid at a reduced rate. 
The hours of work were sometimes left to the discretion of the 
women, who were told to come in when they felt like it and to 
leave when they were tired. Other stores permitted the older 
women to begin work at ten or eleven and to leave an hour earlier 
than other employees. 

Various replies came in regard to the feasibility of shifting older 
women into easier jobs. One store executive exclaimed with em- 
phasis, "There isn't an easy job in our store." Another said he 
had successfully moved one woman from a counter where it had 
been necessary for her to handle heavy bolts of cloth, to the no- 
tion department where she could sit and do her selling. On the 
other hand, an executive of a third company ridiculed the idea of 
such a shift for he considered a notion counter one of the most 
trying positions in the store, inasmuch as it is the counter where 
quickness counts before all else. Still another store had given up 



APPENDIX 



107 



its factory division and in so doing had thrown fifteen older 
women out of work. Each case was carefully investigated in an 
effort to ascertain home and financial conditions. Whenever it 
was possible these women were shifted into regular positions in 
the store proper. Those who could not be cared for in this way 
were presented with three or four weeks' wages. For some time 
the firm helped find work for these people in various parts of the 
city and was continuing to keep in touch with them and to give 
them odd jobs whenever possible. Of those successfully trans- 
ferred to the store, one was given work as dishwasher in the lunch 
room where the hours were short, another as matron in the rest 
room, a third as cleaner, while still others were made seamstresses 
in the alteration room. The executives of some stores questioned 
the feasibility of placing older women in the alteration depart- 
ment inasmuch as this department demands skilled seamstresses 
and swift fingers, since practically all alterations are rush orders. 
Though one firm did concede that places might be found for 
women who would remove bastings. 

Three stores had successfully shifted women from selling to 
marking, while one had placed a woman at clerical work in the 
credit department where she could sit and relax as her failing 
strength demanded. Some of the stores put older women in charge 
of their check rooms. Another firm felt that it was virtually pen- 
sioning an old employee by putting her on a power tag machine 
where very little was required of her. She had been with the com- 
pany over thirty years. Since she was enjoying her old wages 
and had been made to feel that she was still a part of industry, 
she was quite happy and contented. This same store employed 
another former saleswoman in making curtains and draperies 
on a power machine. This woman found the work congenial 
and was able to earn her wage while continuing to serve the 
store. 

One company, valuing very highly a certain saleswoman and 
buyer who was nearing seventy years of age, had hired a boy 
to do her errands. For instance, this lad was sent to the 
store room for her, helped her to keep the stock dusted and in 
order, and then filled in his time with various odd jobs around 
the store. 



108 APPENDIX 

Lengthening Terms of Service of Store Employees 

Increased recognition of the value of a stable working force 
has resulted in well-organized efforts for lengthening the terms of 
service in the Boston stores. For example, the department store 
having the largest pay roll maintains a "Quarter Century Club." 
Men and women who have been with the firm for twenty-five years 
are eligible for membership. Banquets and other social gatherings 
stimulate interest in the Club and bring those who win admission 
into more intimate relations with experienced and influential 
members of the store staff. Efforts to adjust services to the 
strength of faithful, elderly employees, and pension systems seem 
to be logical outgrowths of such plans for retaining workers during 
the period of their wage-earning fives. In the absence of a general, 
publicly-administered old-age pension system, it seems probable 
that other large retail establishments will devise plans which will 
give their employees a subsistence income after retirement from 
long services. 



APPENDIX 



109 



STATISTICAL TABLES CITED IN THE TEXT 
OF OLD-AGE SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS 

TABLE 21. LENGTH OF SERVICE OF 190 ACTIVE MASSA- 
CHUSETTS WOMEN TEACHERS 

{Sample Group from whom Schedules were obtained) 





Number of Teachers whose Years 
of Service Were as Specified: 


YEARS OF SERVICE 


Boston 


State 
outside Boston 


Total, ■ . . 

26 to 30 years, 

36 to 40 years, 

46 to 50 years, 


85 

2 

8 

15 

14 

20 

14 

5 

1 

6 


105 

4 

18 

28 

18 

18 

8 

5 

3 

3 



TABLE 22. LENGTH OF SERVICE IN THE BOSTON SCHOOLS OF 

WOMEN TEACHERS AS INDICATED BY CHANGES NOTED AT 

FIVE-YEAR INTERVALS IN THE NAMES REGISTERED IN THE 

BOSTON EDUCATIONAL DIRECTORY 



LENGTH OF SERVICE 



Total, 



Less than 6 years, 
6 years to 10 years, 
11 years to 15 years, 
16 years to 20 years, 
21 years to 25 years, 
26 years to 30 years, 
31 years to 35 years, 
36 years to 40 years, 
41 years to 45 years, 
46 years to 50 years, 
51 years and over, 



Average 
Serving 
Specified 
Periods 



2359.6 

690.0 

503.8 

372.2 

267.4 

179.2 

130.8 

98.0 

64.4 

32.8 

15.2 

5.8 



Numberi of Women Teachers who had 
served for periods specified prior to the last 
appearance of their names in the Educa- 
tional Directories of the dates stated. 



1920 



2927 

683 

501 

564 

419 

286 

179 

113 

98 

35 

30 

10 



1915 



2748 

673 

685 

463 

328 

213 

131 

124 

50 

55 

19 

7 



1910 



2479 

851 

547 

363 

237 

146 

145 

59 

76 

37 

13 

5 



1905 



2024 

708 

432 

282 

163 

169 

73 

107 

57 

22 

6 

5 



1900 



1620 

535 

345 

189 

190 

82 

126 

87 

41 

15 



iFor Per cents see Table No. 7. 



110 



APPENDIX 



TABLE 23. AGE PERIODS WHEN ACTIVE MASSACHUSETTS 
TEACHERS REPORTED EXPENDITURES FOR PROFESSIONAL 

ADVANCEMENT 





Teachers Reporting Expenditures 
in Specified Age Periods 


AGE PERIODS 


For Education 


For Travel 




Number 


Per Cent.2 


Number 


Per Cent.2 


Teachers 1 reporting 


113 


59.5 


109 


57.4 


Under 20 years, . 


19 


10.1 


5 


2.7 


20-29 years, . . 


65 


34.5 


42 


22.3 


30-39, .... 


72 


38.5 


70 


37.4 


40-49, .... 


56 


31.5 


59 


33.1 


50-59, .... 


28 


23.9 


27 


23.1 


60-70, .... 


10 


20.4 


8 


16.3 


Unknown age 










periods, 


10 




11 





iRecords for 190 teachers were studied: of these 83 invested in both study and travel; 46 in 
neither : 6 failed to give the desired information. Since teachers expended money for these pur- 
poses in more than one age period, there are numerous cases of multiple counting. 

2The bases used in calculating these percentages will be found in Table 9 which gives the 
number of teachers reporting their expenditures in each age period. 



TABLE 24. AGE PERIODS WHEN 147 ACTIVE MASSACHUSETTS 
TEACHERS HAD DEPENDENTS 



AGE PERIODS 



Number of Teachers who Reported 
Dependents in Specified Age Periodsi 



Under 20 years, 

20-29 years, 

30-39, . 

40-49, 

50-59, 

60-70, 

No information as to age periods, 




lThe bases used in calculating these percentages will be found in Table 9 which gives the 
number of teachers reporting their expenditures in each age period. 



APPENDIX 



111 



TABLE 25. AGE PERIODS WHEN 174 ACTIVE MASSACHUSETTS 
WOMEN TEACHERS MADE SAVINGS 



AGE IPERIODS 



Under 20 years, 
20-29, . . 



30-39, 

40-49, 

50-59, 

60-70, 

No information as to age period, 



Teachers Reporting Savings in Specified 
Age Periods : 



Number 


Per Cent! 


4 


2.1 


42 


22.3 


66 


35.3 


72 


40.5 


39 


33.3 


14 


28.6 


33 






iThe bases used in calculating these percentages will be found in Table 9 which gives the 
number of teachers reporting their expenditures in each age period. 



TABLE 26. AGE PERIODS WHEN 174 ACTIVE MASSACHUSETTS 
WOMEN TEACHERS MADE INVESTMENTS 





Number of Teachers in Specified Age Periods who Made 
the Following Investments: 


AGE PERIODS 


Total 


Savings 
Banks 


Co-oper- 
ative 
Banks 


Insur- 
ance 


Real 

Estate 


Stocks 

and 
Bonds 


Liberty 
Bonds 


Total, .... 


635 


203 


100 


140 


58 


63 


71 


Under 20 years, 


11 


7 


2 


1 


1 


— 


— 


20-29 years, . . . 


71 


37 


8 


18 


4 


3 


1 


30-39 years, . . . 


134 


47 


22 


37 


14 


11 


3 


40-49 years, 


169 


44 


27 


43 


14 


18 


23 


50-59 years, 


121 


30 


17 


23 


9 


10 


32 


60-70 years, . . . 


35 


8 


6 


7 


1 


2 


11 


Unknown age periods, 


94 


30 


18 


11 


15 


19 


1 



112 



APPENDIX 



TABLE 27. AMOUNT OF SUPPORT GIVEN TO DEPENDENTS 
BY 147 ACTIVE MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN TEACHERS 







Teachers who gave Specified Dependents: 




Total Support 


Partial Support 


NUMBER OF 
DEPENDENTS 


Number 


Per Cent. 

Based on 
190 or 
Whole 
Sample 
Group 


Per Cent. 
Based on 
147 with 
Depen- 
dents 


Number 


Per Cent. 

Based on 
190 or 
Whole 
Sample 
Group 


Per Cent. 
Based on 
147 with 
Depen- 
dents 


Total . . 

One, 

Two, . . . 
Three, . . . 
Four, . . . 
Five or more, 
No data regarding 
number, 


r 


54 

35 

13 

3 

2 

1 

7 


28.4 

18.4 

6.8 

1.6 

1.1 

.5 

3.7 


36.7 

23.8 
8.8 
2.0 
1.4 

.7 

4.8 


123 

46 
43 
12 
13 
9 

7 


64.7 

24.2 

22.6 

6.3 

6.8 

4.7 

3.7 


83.7 

31.3 
29.3 

8.2 
8.8 
6.1 

4.8 



TABLE 28. METHODS BY WHICH ACTIVE MASSACHUSETTS 
TEACHERS SUPPLEMENTED THEIR SALARIES 



SUPPLEMENTARY SOURCES 


Number of Teachers Reporting Specified 
Means of Supplementing their Incomes: 




Number 


Per Cent. 


No means of supplementing salary, 

Permanent home with relatives, 
Other help from relatives, .... 


190 1 

91 
51 
32 
18 
12 
1 


100. 

47.9 

26.8 

16.8 

9.5 

6.3 

.5 



lSince 11 teachers had 2 methods of supplementing their incomes, and 2 had 3. the figures 
and percentages add to a larger number than that reported in the total. The number of 
women reporting was used as the base in calculating percentages. 



APPENDIX 



113 



TABLE 29. SAVINGS OF ACTIVE MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN 

TEACHERS 



AMOUNT OF SAVINGS 



Total, 



No savings, 

$1-1,000, . . . 

$1,001-2,000, . . 

$2,001-3,000, . . 

$3,001-4,000, . . 

$4,001-5,000, . . 

$5,001-6,000, . . 

$6,001-7,000, . . 

$7,001-8,000, . . 

$8,001-9,000, . . 
$9,001-10,000, 
10,001-15,000, 

$15,001-20,000, . 
Amount unknown, 



Number of Teachers who Saved 
Specified Amount 



Number 


Per Cent. 


190 


100. 


16 


8.4 


27 


14.2 


29 


15.3 


23 


12.1 


12 


6.3 


12 


6.3 


9 


4.7 


3 


1.6 


3 


1.6 


1 


.5 


4 


2.1 


7 


3.7 


1 


.5 


43 


22.6 



TABLE 30. ANNUAL ALLOWANCES PAID FROM THE MASSA- 
CHUSETTS TEACHERS RETIREMENT FUND 
1914-1920 









Teachers whose annual allowances were as specified: 


AMOUNT 


Total 


Females 


Males 




Number 


Per Cent. 


Number 


Per Cent. 


Number 


Per Cent. 


Total, . . . 


368 


100. 


323 


100. 


45 


100. 


$300, . . . 


180 


48.9 


177 


54.8 


3 


6.7 


$301-350, 






32 


8.7 


32 


9.9 


- 


— 


$351-400, 






43 


11.7 


40 


12.4 


3 


6.7 


$401-450, 






26 


7.1 


25 


7.7 


1 


2.2 


$451-500, 






19 


5.2 


14 


4.3 


5 


11.1 


$501-550, 






10 


2.7 


6 


1.8 


4 


8.9 


$551-600, 






18 


4.9 


11 


3.4 


7 


15.6 


$601-650, 






4 


1.1 


1 


.3 


3 


6.7 


$651-700, 






12 


3.3 


6 


1.9 


6 


13.3 


$701-750, 






8 


2.2 


4 


1.2 


4 


8.9 


$751-800, 






10 


2.7 


5 


1.6 


5 


11.1 


$801-850, 






6 


1.6 


2 


>.6 


4 


8.9 



114 



APPENDIX 



TABLE 31. AFTER RETIREMENT ALLOWANCES RECEIVED BY 
MASSACHUSETTS WOMEN TEACHERS 



AMOUNTS 



Total, 



$300, 



$30 
$35 



-$350 



$450 
-$500 : 
-$550 



-$750 
-$800 : 

-$850 



Teachers whose annual allowances were as specified: 



Number 



State 



323 

177 

32 

40 

25 

14 

6 

11 

1 

6 

4 

5 

2 



Boston 



192 1 



56 
46 
27 
38 
9 
16 



Per Cent. 



State 


Boston 


100. 


100. 


54.8 





9.9 


29.2 


12.4 


24.0 


7.7 


14.1 


4.3 


19.8 


1.8 


4.7 


3.4 

.3 

1.9 


8.3 





1.2 





1.6 


— 


.6 






iSixty teachers who have been granted the special pension of $180, and 50 teachers who 
retired for disability before reaching the age of 65 or before completing 30 years of service are 
not included in this table. 



TABLE 32. PENSION RECEIVED FROM CITY OF BOSTON BY A 
SAMPLE GROUP OF RETIRED BOSTON WOMEN TEACHERS 



AMOUNT OF PENSION 



Number of Teachers 



Total, 



None, 

Less than $150, 

$150-200, . 

$201-250, . 

$251-300, . 

$301-350, . 

$351-400, . 

$401-450, . 

$451-500, . 

$501-550, . 

$551-600, . 
Unknown, 



115 1 

4 

1 
28 

1 

3 
17 
20 
17 
12 

5 

5 

2 



iSeven of these teachers retired for disability; 2 received no pension; 1 less than $150; 2 
from $150-200; 1, $250-300; 1, an unknown amount. 



APPENDIX 



115 



TABLE 33. EXPECTATION OF LIFE OF WOMEN AT DIFFERENT 

AGES BASED ON THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE TABLE 

MORTALITY RATES 



AGE 


Expectation of Life 


Age 


Expectation of Life 


55 


17 . 40 years 


65 


11.10 years 


56 


16.72 


66 


10.54 


57 


16.05 


67 


10.00 


58 


15.39 


68 


9.47 


59 


14.74 


69 


8.97 


60 


14.10 


70 


8.48 


61 


13.47 


71 


8.00 


62 


12.86 


72 


7.55 


63 


12.26 


73 . 


7.11 


64 


11.67 


74 


6.68 






75 


6.27 



TABLE 34. AGES AT DEATH OF RETIRED MASSACHUSETTS 

WOMEN TEACHERS 1 

1914-1920 





Num- 
ber 
of 

Teach- 
ers 


Number of 


years between Retirement and Death: 


AGES AT DEATH 


Less 
than 
1 year 


1 year 
and 
less 

than 

2 years 


2 years 
and 
less 

than 

3 years 


3 years 
and 
less 

than 

4 years 


4 years 
and 
less 
than 

5 years 


5 years 
and 
less 
than 

6 years 


6 years 
and 
over 


All ages, 


59 


11 


10 


7 


10 


8 


8 


5 


60-64, . . . 


16 


11 


3 


2 


— 


— 


— 


— 


65-69, . . . 


15 


— 


6 


3 


3 


1 


2 


— 


70-74, . . . 


12 


— 


— 


1 


3 


5 


2 


1 


75-79, . . . 


11 


— 


1 


1 


2 


1 


3 


3 


80-84, . . . 


4 


— 


— 


— 


2 


1 


— 


1 


85-89, . . . 


















90 and over, 


1 












1 


— 



iData from the records of the Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement Association. 



116 



APPENDIX 



QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE SELF-SUPPORTING 
WOMAN 

(Covering the period of full-time employment) 

1. Date of birth, Birthplace:.. of father, and mother, 

2. Conjugal condition: single, married, divorced or separated, 

widowed, 

3. Education: (write "A" for attended, or "G" for graduated): 

grammar school, secondary school, business school, 

normal school, college or university, graduate or professional, 

(state kind and degree received) 

4. Have you received an income other than from earnings? If possible 

state the sources and amounts,.. 



5. Approximate Annual Earnings while Holding Certain Positions: 
(mention only those held for six months or longer) 



Dates 


Description of work 


Annual 


From To 


Earnings 























































6. Uses made of income other than for living expenses, or permanent invest- 
ments. 
(Place checks or numbers under the age periods when the uses were made.) 





Income used as checked in stated age periods 


Kinds of uses 


Under 20 


20-29 


30-39 


40-49 


50-59 


60 and over 


Further education,... 














Travel, 














Other (state), 



























Care of dependents (If under 14, add "C" to number; if over, indicate sex with 
"M" or "W") 

Number entirely 

supported,. 

Number partially 

supported, 



APPENDIX 

7. Permanent savings available for old age support. 



117 



Savings and their in- 
vestment 


Age periods when savings were made and invested 
as stated 


Am mints savfifl, 














Forms of investment, 
as insurance, real es- 
tate, stock, pension, etc. 





























Relations with family: With what relatives have you resided? State the 
years covered by such residence, 

General information or advice to other women about methods of saving 
and investing earnings, 



QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SELF-SUPPORTING WOMAN 

(Retired from Full-time Employment) 

1. Name or identification number, 2. Date of birth, 

3. Birthplace of woman; of her father, and mother, 

4. Conjugal condition : single, .married, divorced or separated, 

widowed, 

5. Education: (write "A" for attended, or "G" for graduated): 

grammar school, secondary school, business school, techni- 
cal school, college or university, graduate or professional, 

(state kind and degree received) 

6. Date of retirement from regular, full-time employment, 

7. Resources at the Time of Retirement. 



General description 



A. Property, real and personal, 



Approx. value 



B. 



Income from: 

Annuity, 

Investments, .. 
Other sources, 



Dependents : relationship, 

Annual contributions to their support,. 



118 APPENDIX 

9. Has there been part-time employment since retirement? If so, state 
nature and approximate annual earnings, 



10. Living arrangements: 

Urban, approximate population of, Rural, 

Keeping house for herself, or with servant,... in a separate 

room house, a single room, or an room apartment (check and 

add descriptive numbers) 
Boarding with relatives (state kinship), with strangers, 

with friends, 

If in a family group, state its composition, 

Institution, characterize briefly, 

Other arrangements, 

11. Health: good, average, poor, (state specific complaint if any) 



12. Faculties: sound, impaired, (state whether hearing, sight, memory, 

etc.) 

13. Occupations: (describe briefly), _ 

14. Recreations: ^ 

15. Comments: (advice to other women based on experiences of the person 

interviewed) _ 



Name of investigation agency, Date,. 

Its location: City, State, 

Signature of interviewer, 



TITLES OF UNPUBLISHED TABLES 

The high cost of composition has prevented the publication of much of 
the statistical material tabulated in the course of this investigation. Investi- 
gators who wish to compare their data with those on which our discussions 
have been based may obtain any of the tables in the following list by paying 
the cost of copying and mailing. Inquires should be addressed to the Research 
Department, 264 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. 

Table 
Number 

1. Nativities of Massachusetts Women Teachers and of Their Parents: 

A — Active Massachusetts Teachers of Twenty or More Years of Serv- 
ice. 
B — Retired Boston Teachers. 

2. Training of Massachusetts Women Teachers: A — Active; B — Retired. 

3. Educational Qualifications of Massachusetts Women Teachers, January, 

1920. 

4. Conjugal Condition of Massachusetts Women Teachers. 

5. Diseases Reported by Boston Retired Women Teachers. 

6. Ages of Retirement of Boston Women Teachers by Years of Retirement. 

7. Length of Service of Massachusetts Women Teachers in Town or City 

Where Now Employed, Prior to September 1, 1919. 

8. Numbers and Forms of Investments Reported by a Sample Group of 

Boston Retired Teachers. 

9. Active Massachusetts Women Teachers Reporting One or More Invest- 

ments. 

10. Investments Made by 174 Active Massachusetts Women Teachers. 

11. Number of Dependents Cared for by Active Massachusetts Women 

Teachers in Different Age Periods. 

12. Number of Dependents Supported by Active Massachusetts Women 

Teachers. 

13. The First Salaries Received by Massachusetts Women Teachers who 

Began Work Between 1870 and 1900. 

14. Average Salaries of Women Teachers in Massachusetts Elementary 

Schools. 

15. Average Salaries of Women Teachers in Massachusetts High and Elemen- 

tary Schools. 

16. Apportionment of Income in The Well-Rounded Life. 

17. Brookline Teachers' Budgets. A — Single. B — Married. 

18. Inheritances Received by Active Massachusetts Women Teachers. 

19. Number of Active Massachusetts Women Teachers Engaged in Paid 

Part-Time Work. 



120 OLD-AGE SUPPORT OP WOMEN TEACHERS 

20. Pensions Received from City of Boston by Women Teachers by Date of 

Retirement, 1908-1920. 

21. Pensions Received from City of Boston by Women Teachers Retired for 

Disability. 

22. Contributions with Interest Paid by Women Teachers to Massachusetts 

Retirement Board. 

23. Methods by Which a Sample Group of Retired Boston Teachers Supple- 

mented Incomes from Earnings. 

24. Sources of Supplementary Income of Sample Group of Retired Boston 

Teachers. 



INDEX 



After Retirement Period, length 
of, 63-64, 115. 

Age, at retirement, of Boston teach- 
ers, 14-15; of State teachers, 
16-17; at death, 65, 115; when 
savings for old age are made, 
29, 33-35, 111; when dependents 
are helped, 29, 30-32, 69-74, 110. 

Annuities, bond, 35, 54-55, 96. See 
Pensions. 

Arts, fine as avocations or recrea- 
tions in old age, 98-99. 

Avocations, 82-83, 98-99. See 
Part-Time Work. 

Billings Fund, for retired Boston 
teachers, 59. 

Boston, Mutual Benefit Society, 
39-40; Teachers' Retirement 
Fund Association, 41-42; Pen- 
sion Acts of 1908 and 1910, 
42-43; after-retirement allow- 
ances, 49. 

Charts, List of, 8. 

Co-operation, in obtaining old-age 
protection, 74-75, 97-98. 

Dependents op Teachers, number 
having dependents, 29-32, 69- 
74, 87-90, 110, 112; relationship 
of, 72; age periods when care was 
given, 29, 110; amount of sup- 
port given, 112. 

Disability, allowances for, 51-52, 
92-93. 

Earnings, of Massachusetts teach- 
ers, amounts of, 24-27. 



Education, of Massachusetts teach- 
ers, 12-13; age periods when 
investments were made in, 28- 
30, 110. 

Expenditures, distribution of, 25- 
36, 110-112. See Dependents, 
Education, Investments. 

Faculties, condition of in retired 
teachers, 18. 

Gift Pensions, in Boston, 42-43, 
92. See Pensions. 

Health, reports of disorders, 13; 

expenditures to promote, 32, 64. 
Homes, of retired teachers, their 

location, 64-70; desire for, 96-97. 

Inheritances, effect on savings, 
32-33, 58. 

Insurance, investment of savings 
in, 35, 96; old age, 90-93. See 
Pensions, Annuities, Massa- 
chusetts, Investments. 

Investments, forms of, conservative 
character, 35-36, 93, 96-97. 

Legislation, establishing teachers' 

pensions, 41-47. 
Length of Life, of teachers, 63-65, 

115. See Age. 
Living Arrangements, of retired 

teachers, 69-70. 

Massachusetts, Annuity Guild, 40- 
41; State Pension System, 43-44; 
After Retirement Allowances, 49. 



122 



INDEX 



Money, changes in purchasing power, 
25-26, 92; need of stabilizing, 93. 

Mortality, rates, of women, Ameri- 
can Table, 115. See Age, 
Length of Life. 

Mutual Benefit Societies, among 
retired teachers, their history, 
39-40. 

Occupations, of retired Boston 
teachers, 78-83; 98-99. 

Old Age, See Age, Investments, 
Insurance, Dependents, Liv- 
ing Conditions, Occupations, 
Etc. 

Part-Time Work, to supplement 
salaries or pensions, 60-61, 78- 
83. See Avocations. 

Pensions, history of, 39-47; amounts 
received by Boston teachers, 46, 
49, 50, 114; by State teachers, 
49, 113, 114. See Insurance, 
Boston and Massachusetts. 

Personal Characteristics, of 
Massachusetts teachers, 12-13. 

-Questionnaires, used in this study, 
116-118. 



Retired Teachers, their incomes, 
49-62; living conditions, 63-84. 
See Age, Pensions, Homes, 
Health, Occupations. 

Salaries, See Earnings, Savings, 
Investments, Money, Part- 
Time Work. 

Savings, of teachers in different age 
periods, 27-38, 53-57, 93-97, 
110-111, 113; constructive plans 
for, 36-37. See Investments, 
Money. 

Sources of Information, on which 
the report is based, 11. 

Service, length of in schools, 18-23, 
109-111. See Age. 

Social interests of teachers, 77-78; 
social service as an avocation, 99. 

Standard of Living, of retired 
teachers, 66-69. 

Stores, study of older women in 
Boston retail, 103-108. 

Tables, List of published, 9-10; un- 
published, 119-120. 

Thrift, personal variations in, 93-94. 
See Savings, Insurance, In- 
vestments. 



